Pneumatology, Participation, and Load-Bearing Structures

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-62
Author(s):  
Joanna Leidenhag ◽  

As Oliver D. Crisp’s Analyzing Doctrine sets out the major moves of a future analytic systematic theology, this response worries about the lack of close attention to work of the Holy Spirit. It is argued that this generates an unhelpful (and unintended) tendency for key theological concepts to collapse into one another. First, the concepts of theosis, participation, union, conformity, and sanctification appear indistinguishable. Second, Crisp portrays monofocal attention to the union of incarnation, without equal concern for that additional complementary way that humanity is united to God, namely, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Author(s):  
Simeon Zahl

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.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 112-130
Author(s):  
Steven L Porter ◽  
Brandon Rickabaugh

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.


2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-20
Author(s):  
Christopher A. Stephenson

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.


Augustinianum ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 169-190
Author(s):  
Juan Antonio Cabrera Montero ◽  

Isidore of Seville did not leave behind any specifically trinitarian, Christological or pneumatological treatises. We find his theological doctrine evident in sections throughout his works although, as a result of the effort of a good compiler and synthesizer, it is not difficult to trace the passages in which the bishop of Seville deals with each one of these subjects. With regard to the doctrine on the Holy Spirit, the chapter dedicated to the third person of the Trinity in the first book of the Sententiae offers a fairly complete summary of the matter. The following pages are intended to present the content of that chapter and to place it within the context of the rest of Isidore’s theological output. Therefore, in addition to paying close attention to the text of the Sententiae, we will seek its dependence or influence, as the case may be, on other treatises of Isidore, mainly in these three: Etymologiae, De fide catholica and Liber differentiarum [II]. Augustine, Gregory the Great and the theological contribution of the Spanish councils are presented as Isidore’s main sources.


Pneuma ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-60
Author(s):  
Janice Rees

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.


Ecclesiology ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel D. Daniels

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.


Pro Ecclesia ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 178-192
Author(s):  
John W Hoyum

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.


1957 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-89
Author(s):  
G. J. Sirks

More than once the doctrine of the Spirit (Pneumatology) has been called the Cinderella of Theology. If this was so in the past, and is perhaps still, it now requires our full attention. At the risk of viewing the situation through ‘continental’ eyes, but hoping you will recognize this, I would say that the nineteenth century, impressed by the advance of science, confronted theology in the first place with problems raised by natural science. Its first question concerned the nature of God, especially in connection with creation. Scientific historical inquiry paid attention to the Bible, and in the New Testament focussed its interest upon the question of the historical Jesus. This work culminated and came to a temporary halt in Albert Schweitzer's, The Quest of the Historical Jesus. A revival of Systematic Theology and Dogmatics followed, and in the opinion of the dogmatists the connecting lines between theology viewed from a cosmic standpoint and the Gospel were too long. The same thing was seen happening in the historical study of religions which came to cover an ever-widening field. On flle other hand, however, they could not be satisfied with a ‘life of Jesus,’ so that Christology began to occupy a central place which it has held during the last few decades. And, if Pneumatology received any attention at all, its allotted place was small.


Kurios ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 136
Author(s):  
Tony Salurante ◽  
Dyulius Th. Bilo ◽  
David Kristanto

Transformation is the key to the growth of the church and mission. Transformation is a positive change toward Christ that marks believers’ life, as indicated by Paul’s exhortation in Romans 12:2. The church refers to the people who believe in Christ so they are renewed by the power of the Holy Spirit. That transformation or renewal empowers the church to function as the light of the world, as a missional community through the power of the Holy Spirit. This article seeks to present the strong correlation between the spiritual transformation of the church by the power of the Holy Spirit with her function as a missional community. This article elaborates the meaning of transformation in the New Testament, the meaning of transformation from the perspective of systematic theology, and the strong correlation between spiritual transformation and the function of the church as a missional community. Abstrak Transformasi adalah kunci dari pertumbuhan gereja dan misi. Hal tersebut merupakan perubahan positif yang menjadi ciri kehidupan orang percaya kearah Kristus, sebagaimana nasehat Paulus dalam Kitab Roma 12:2. Gereja adalah orang-orang yang percaya kepada Kristus sehingga dibaharui oleh kuasa Roh Kudus. Transformasi atau pembaharuan tersebut merupakan hal yang memampukan Gereja untuk berfungsi sebagai terang dunia, sebagai komunitas misional oleh kuasa Roh Kudus. Artikel ini melihat relasi yang erat antara transformasi Gereja oleh kuasa Roh Kudus dengan berfungsinya Gereja sebagai suatu komunitas misi. Artikel ini memaparkan makna transformasi spiritual di dalam Perjanjian Baru, makna transformasi spiritual dari perspektif teologi sistematika, dan relasi erat antara transformasi spiritual dengan fungsi Gereja sebagai suatu komunitas misi.


2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Collium Banda

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.


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