New Testament Pneumatology

This essay was published in The Bible and Early Trinitarian Theology, edited by Christopher A. Beeley and Mark E. Weedman, for the CUAP Studies in Early Christianity (Washington DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2018); this is the uncorrected proofs. Exploring the humanity and divinity of Jesus, the Son's relation to the Father, and the agency of the Holy Spirit, it is one of five essays suggesting Johannine contributions to trinitarian discussions in the early church.

 This series is intended as an overview-style study for an informal interactive setting, such as a Sunday School class or adult/young adult Bible study. Many excellent and exhaustive volumes exist on the topic of the Holy Spirit; the present series presents an abbreviated overview on this rich topic, drawn from both biblical and scholarly sources. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture citations are from the English Standard Version.  In all lessons, questions, or follow-on discussions in this or other teaching series, Scripture must be considered the absolute and final authority.  Instructors employing this series should consider the lesson plans "talking points," with each brief bullet warranting additional exposition/explanation by the instructor. In this vein, the lessons are not prescriptively detailed such as to be read verbatim, but are key points/topics the instructor should employ and elaborate upon.  Participants are encouraged to interact with the instructor by completing the attached lesson outlines, asking relevant questions, and "fact-checking" the information with cited or relevant Scripture. 5  Importantly, a study of this length cannot comprehensively address all facets of an eternal being; this study highlights important points that each bear further follow-on study. Undertaking an overview of Deity is somewhat akin to explaining the operation of an automobile by stating "One replenishes the fuel, starts the engine, and engages the transmission, steering, and brakes to operate the vehicle." Such a description is obviously simplistic; this overview intends to focus on key aspects while encouraging further study/research on the details mentioned.  Also importantly, the attached lesson outlines for students/class members are instructional aids employing the fill-in-the-blank method to encourage the student to follow along and to provide notes to aid in further research of specific topics. (Blank terms in the student notes are highlighted in yellow in the instructor guide). While the instructor lesson notes contain extensive source citations/footnotes, the attached lesson outlines do not. For this reason, the lesson outlines should not be used or distributed without the instructor notes, which fully attribute the ideas and details to the source authors and provide resources for students wishing to follow up on specific topics. 6  As Wesley noted about his sermons, the desired approach and style of this series is ad populum; plain truth for plain people; overly technical or obscure theological terms are avoided except where absolutely necessary. 1  For the instructor, the author strongly encourages the reading and use of cited Scripture during the lessonsor, if time does not permit such, a "homework-style" assignment of verses for students to read prior to each lesson.

The Holy Spirit is the most misunderstood and neglected Person of the Trinity, with God the Father (YHWH) and Jesus the Son (Christ) often being given primacy over the Holy Spirit. In my tradition (SBC life), the Holy Spirit is often called and regarded as an impersonal “it,” the proverbial “red-headed stepchild” of the Trinity or ignored altogether. Such denigrated views and neglect are to our detriment, as scripturally, the Holy Spirit is a Person, and he is the empowering Agent for the church and our lives—pointing us to Christ, convicting us of sin, and empowering us to join God in his redemptive, kingdom work.

It is my hope that this brief, informal essay will help to clear up confusion regarding pneumatology, and the oft-confused questions regarding the "sin unto death" and what it means to blaspheme, grieve, and to quench the Holy Spirit.

AUTHOR: WILLIAM ROSS SCHOEMAKER. THE USE OF Ruach IN THE OLD TESTAMENT AND OF PNEUMA IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE DIVINITY SCHOOL, IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY . (DEPARTMENT OF BIBLICAL THEOLOGY)  Michigan: 1904

in: Horizonte neutestamentlicher Christologie, 2002 (WUNT 144), 163–192, = revid. Abdruck von: ZThK 93 (1996) 163–192.

In this essay, the author focuses on a basic problem which arises in view of the implications of Pauline understanding of the spirit: How can the spirit become the identity-forming “self” of the believer and yet remain God’s spirit? Dealing with the positions taken by Bultmann and Bousset as well as with the conception of “self” and using an exegesis of Rom 8:9–11, 15f, 1Cor 14:14f, 5:1–5 and 6:17, the author shows that the common antithesis (spirit as a force or as a substance) fails to grasp the actual essence. In a manner which is thorough and well thought-out, Paul illustrates how both points of view are related to each other.

Courtney J. P. Friesen explores shifting boundaries of ancient religions by way of the reception of a popular tragedy, Euripides’ Bacchae . As a play staging political crises provoked by the arrival of the “foreign” god Dionysus and his ecstatic cult, audiences and readers found resonances with their own cultural moments. This dramatic deity became emblematic of exuberant and liberating spirituality and, at the same time, a symbol of imperial conquest. Thus, readings of the Bacchae frequently foreground conflicts between religious autonomy and political authority, and between ethnic diversity and social cohesion. This cross-disciplinary study traces appropriations and evocations of this drama ranging from the fifth century BCE through Byzantium not only among “pagans” but also Jews and Christians. Writers variously articulated their religious visions over against Dionysus, often while paradoxically adopting the god’s language and symbols. Consequently, imitation and emulation are at times indistinguishable from polemics and subversion.

L’autore sottolinea l’articolazione tra i sacramenti dell’iniziazione cristiana alla luce dell’azione dello Spirito. Al Battesimo e alla Confermazione sono attribuito i doni irrevocabili dello Spirito, rispettivamente della figliolanza divina e dell’unzione messianica. Tali doni conferiscono l’identità profonda  (ontologia) e la consacrazione missionaria (deontologia) del cristiano, e trovano il loro culmine nell’Eucaristia, in cui lo Spirito porta alla piena unione con Cristo nel suo pasquale ed eterno offrirsi al Padre- in tale prospettiva – e salva la pericoresi tra le virtù teologali e i tre munera  - si “appropria” la regalità alla rinascita battesimale (fede), la profezia alla testimonianza crismale (speranza) e il sacerdozio al culto eucaristico (carità).

Parole chiavi: Sacramenti di iniziazione; Battesimo, Cresima, Eucaristia; virtù teologali, munus messianico; regalità, profezia, sacerdozio.


Abstract
The author emphasizes the articulation between the sacraments of Christian initiation in the light of the action of the Spirit. To Baptism and Confirmation are attributed the irrevocable gifts of the Spirit; divine sonship and messianic anointing, respectively. Such gifts confer a profound identity (ontology) and a missionary consecration (deontology) of the christian, and reach their climax in the Eucharist, in which the Spirit brings to full union with Christ in his paschal and eternal self-giving to the Father. In this perspective, baptismal rebirth (faith) is related to kingship; chrismal witness (hope) to prophecy and Eucharistic worship (charity) to priesthood.

Keywords: Sacraments of initiation; Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist; theological virtues; messianic munera, kingship, prophecy, proesthood.

Buku ini menganalisa hal-hal seputar peran Roh Kudus yang menjadi topik hangat kemunculan dan perkembangan Gerakan Karismatik secara global maupun di Indonesia. Tujuannya agar para pembaca lebih jelas memahami warisan rohani dalam Kristus yang sungguh luar biasa ini dan bagaimana besarnya tanggung jawab orang percaya dalam menggunakan karunia rohani yang dianugerahkan. Stott sendiri berupaya dalam pengakuannya bahwa informasi-informasi dan literatur-literatur yang digunakan untuk menuntaskan bukunya ini digunakan seobjektif dan sejujur mungkin, tanpa bermaksud merusak persekutuan di antara orang percaya. Demi tujuan dimaksud maka Stott mengharapkan para pembaca bukunya dapat sama-sama setuju bahwa segala argumentasi harus diuji oleh firman Allah yang telah dinyatakan secara historis dan objektif; bahwa Yesus Kristus haruslah menjadi sentral; dan bahwa keragaman adalah ciptaan Tuhan termasuk keragaman pengalaman rohani yang harus dihargai.

The article focuses on the idea of the cognitive Spirit in Rom 8,5-6. The author begins by analyzing the Stoic concept of pneuma, which plays an important role in thinking, in ethical choices and in the perception of the world. Subsequently, referring to the context of Rom 8,1-17 and proto-Pauline letters, the article clarifies the character of thinking “according to the Spirit” that Paul mentions in Rom 8,5-6. Further, the author critiques Troels Engberg-Pedersen’s hypothesis of the Stoic cognitive pneuma in Rom 8,1-17. The analysis ends with a discussion of the originality of Paul’s concept of the cognitive Spirit. Paul demonstrates crucial differences with respect to the Greco-Roman ambience, because his vision is determined by the Christ event.

This paper discusses the distinctives of Pauline pneumatology in connection to the recent work done on Lukan and Pauline pneumatological relationships. The study proposes a view in which, not only is Pauline pneumatology similar to Lukan pneumatology but in which the soteriological pneuma is not different from the charismatic pneuma.

Este texto é um projeto de livro em que o cessacionismo é exposto e defendido a partir de um compromisso reformado clássico coerente com o princípio Sola Scriptura e subscrevendo a Confissão de Fé de Westminster.  Texto revisado, mas inacabado.

Estou preparando para torná-lo num livro e, em breve, publicá-lo.

This chapter investigates Tom Wright’s portrayal of Paul’s ethics. As the ethical quality of faithfulness is such a central theme in PFG, I raise the question whether Wright also attributes a central role to divine faithfulness in shaping and enabling human faithfulness (i.e. ethical life). In the first part (“What Wright Thinks is Wrong”), I maintain that Wright’s thinking on what is wrong with this world is not wrong, but that the emphasis is in the wrong place. Paul’s personal focus is on the solution, not on the plight. And with regard to the plight, his emphasis is on human enslavement to the external powers of Sin, Flesh, etc., and less so on internal incapacities. In the second part (“From Wrong to [W]Right: How Change is Possible”), I argue that Wright’s model of cognitive change through the “renewal of the mind” presents only one of several aspects of moral transformation in Paul, and that it puts too little trust in the empowering dynamics of Spirit-shaped intimate relationships. In the third part, I largely agree with Wright’s presentation of Paul’s ethical aims and aspirations (focusing on reconciliation, virtues, and fulfilment of the Torah), but I criticize that when it comes to questions of practical morality, Wright’s highflying study fails to touch ground. I finally conclude that faithfulness plays a central role in Wright’s soteriology but only a marginal role in his ethics. I draw attention to the transforming experience of love as the link between divine and human faithfulness that any exposition of Paul’s theology-and-ethics that wants to be faithful to the apostle needs to appreciate.

Abstract – The rationale behind this study is to offer a Oneness Pentecostal exegesis for passages within the Gospel of John and other Johannine texts where the Greek phrase πρὸς τὸν θεόν pros ton theon occurs. Its central textual basis is John 1:1-2 but incorporates grammatical-historical analyses of the phrase used in other non-Johannine pericope as hermeneutical tools when comparing Oneness and Trinitarian theologies. The study argues that the exegetical paradigms of Oneness Pentecostals are viable for contextualising and reorienting textual traditions and ‘settled-readings’ of Johannine texts believed to affirm ‘orthodoxy’. Crucial to this discussion is the identification of common theological assertions brought to these texts by Trinitarians as subconscious controls for their meanings. Essentially, the arguments presented here is a caution to exegetes who fall into the trap of forcing 3rd – 5th century language back into the biblical corpus of the first-century Greco-Roman contexts: and it is the contention of this study that such is too frequently done.

The dissertation analyses Spirit-reception in Luke-Acts with respect to timing, mechanism, and manifestation.  Its narrow focus excludes questions regarding Spirit-reception’s theological significance.  It employs three primary tools: narrative progression/sequential reading, presupposition pools/entity representations (ERs), and focalization.  By beginning with Jesus’ baptism where Spirit experience is joined to the prayer aspect of the baptismal ceremony and observing Jesus’ Luke 11:13 teaching on prayer, one arrives at Acts 2:38-39 with an ER in which Spirit experience is not separated from baptism, but linked with the prayer element of the unitary baptismal ceremony.  Acts 2 focalizes dissociative xenolalia and creates a programmatic expectation that all initiates will experience it.  Acts 2 does not depict new converts receiving the Spirit and thereby leaves a narrative gap which the reader must fill with information from Jesus’ baptism.  Acts 8 adds to this information by providing Luke’s first depiction of new converts receiving the Spirit and showing the facilitation mechanisms used, prayer and handlaying by gifted individuals.  Luke stated neither that this procedure was exceptional nor that it was standard.  He simply presented a solution to the problem of the Spirit failing to come.  Saul’s conversion clarifies that non-apostles can be gifted to facilitate the Spirit.  Cornelius’ house adds the concept of the Spirit being given during a gifted individual’s preaching ministry and shows early church leaders using Pentecost as a standard of comparison.  The cumulative nature of presupposition pools/ERs means that the last Spirit-reception scene (Acts 19) must be viewed in the light of all the accumulated Spirit-reception scenes, the total ER.

Introduced by Aldo Magris, full professor of Theoretical Philosophy at the University of Trieste, the book is divided into three sections. It aims to illustrate the development and semantic links of terms related to the phenomenology of spiration in ancient times, especially Late Antiquity.
The first part focuses on the three main cultural contexts of the Hellenistic era: Greek, Jewish and Christian;  the second part outlines the chaotic and fascinating sapiential galaxy of the High Empire: Gnosticism, esoteric syncretism and philosophical speculation; the third part, finally, investigates the semantic reworking of the terms pneuma/spiritus in Christian thought of the first centuries, both Greek and Latin.
The conclusion - which tries to be a more theoretical reflection - offers a plausible reading key on what emerged during the study and highlighting the benefits and advantages that a discipline such as pneumatology could offer to current theological thought.

Il volume, suddiviso in tre sezioni e prefato dal prof. Aldo Magris, ordinario di Filosofia Teoretica presso l'Università di Trieste, si propone di delineare lo sviluppo ed i nessi semantici dei termini relativi alla fenomenologia della spirazione in età antica, soprattutto tarda. Ad una prima parte attenta ai tre principali contesti culturali dell’epoca ellenistica – greco, ebraico e cristiano – segue una seconda parte dedicata alla caotica e affascinante galassia sapienziale dell’Alto Impero - gnosticismo, sincretismo esoterico e speculazione filosofica; la terza parte, infine, indaga l’elaborazione o, per meglio dire, l’‘elevazione’ teologica di cui la dinamica dello spirare ha beneficiato in seno al pensiero cristiano dei primi secoli, sia greco sia latino. Le conclusioni, infine, operano una riflessione critica a carattere più squisitamente teoretico, cercando di offrire una plausibile chiave di lettura su quanto emerso lungo lo studio e, soprattutto, evidenziando i benefici ed i vantaggi che una disciplina come la pneumatologia potrebbe offrire al pensiero teologico odierno. Correda il volume un ricco apparato di riferimenti - relativi ai passi scritturisti, alle citazioni extratestuali, ai luoghi, ai personaggi letterari o mitologici, ai nomi antichi e a quelli nomi moderni - completato da un accurato indice analitico, recante termini sia greci sia latini.

Philo and Paul enjoy a tradition of being read alongside each other in comparative studies of early Judaism and early Christianity.² One of the areas of recent investigation of the work of both authors has focused on the similarities (and differences) between their respective writings from the perspective of "mysticism."³ As we will see in more detail, both Philo and Paul share "a form of religiosity which has the immediate experience of divine reality as its center. This experience, which transcends everyday consciousness and cognition based on reason, is at the same time the experience of an intimate closeness to the divine reality."⁴

Firstly, the present article explored the occurrence of special gifts of the Holy Spirit (charismata) both in the New Testament and in a number of early Christian writers (e.g. Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian and Augustine). Secondly, it indicated how this experience of special charismata exerted its influence on the formulation of the most authoritative and ecumenical statement of belief, viz. the Creed of Nicaea-Constantinople (381).

This paper presents the raw data for an assessment of the view that the dominant conception of the Spirit in first century Judaism was that the Spirit was the Spirit of prophecy. Instead, we show that this is a misleading generalisation more dependent on choices in historical analysis than the data itself. We counter argue that there was no dominant conception and that we need to recognise the variegated nature of the data.

3. Ἐπιτομὴ τῆς Αἰγυπτίων θεολογίας, καὶ ὡς εἰς Ἕλληνες μετεκομίσθη 4. Περὶ τῶν κατὰ πόλεις χρηστηρίων, καὶ ὧν μάλιστα διατεθρύλληται τὰ μαντεῖα ἐν παραδόξοις δαιμόνων ἐπιφανείαις. Τίνι τε λόγῳ καὶ τούτων κατεφρονήσαμεν: ΠΡΟΟΙΜΙΟΝ 5. Περὶ Φοινίκων καὶ Αἰγυπτίων θεολογίας πρώτης 6. Φοινίκων θεολογία 7. Ποία τις εἶναι λέγεται ἡ καθ' Ἕλληνας κοσμογονία 8. Δόξαι φιλοσόφων περὶ τῆς τοῦ παντὸς συστάσεως 9. Proclus on Hesiod 10. Johannes Tzetzes on the Works and Days of Hesiod 11. The allegories of John the Deacon on Hesiod's Theogony 12. Cosmos of Jerusalem on the poetry of Gregory Nazianzus 13. Gregory of Nyssa on the Pythonissa Bibliography Ὅτι οἱ παλαιοὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, τοὺς κατ' οὐρανὸν φωστῆρας μόνον ἔσεβον, μηδὲν περὶ τοῦ τῶν ὅλων Θεοῦ, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ περὶ ξοάνων ἱδρύσεως, οὐδὲ περὶ δαιμόνων ἐπιστάμενοι "Τοὺς 1 δ' οὖν κατ' Αἴγυπτον ἄνθρώπους τὸ παλαιὸν γενομένους, ἀναβλέψαντας εἰς τὸν κόσμον, καὶ τὴν γενομένους, ἀναβλέψαντας, εἰς τὸν κόσμον, καὶ τὴν τῶν ὅλων φύσιν καταπλαγέντας τε καὶ θαυμάσαντας, ὑπολαβεῖν εἶναι θεοὺς ἀϊδίους τε καὶ πρώτους τόν τε ἥλιον καὶ τὴν σελήνην. Ὣν τὸν μὲν, Ὄσιριν, τὴν δὲ Ἶσιν ὀνομάσαι, ἀπό τινος ἐτύμου τεθείσης ἑκατέρας τῆς προσηγορίας. Μεθερμηνευόντων γὰρ τούτων εἰς τὸν Ἑλληνικὸν τῆς διαλέκτου τρόπον, εἶναι μὲν τὸν Ὄσιριν πολυόφθαλμον. Εἰκότως. Παντὶ γὰρ ἐπιβάλλοντα τὰς ἀκτῖνας, ὥσπερ ὀφθαλμοῖς πολλοῖς βλέπειν ἅπασαν γῆν καὶ θάλασσαν. Καὶ τὸν ποιητὴν δὲ λέγειν σύμφωνα τούτοις. Ἡέλιός θ', ὃς πάντ' ἐφορᾷ, καὶ πάντ' ἐπακούει. Τῶν δὲ παρ' Ἕλλησι πάλαι μυθολόγων τινὲς τὸν Ὄσιριν, Διόνυσον προσαγορεύουσι, καὶ Σύριον παρωνύμως. Ὧν Εὔμολπος μὲν ἐν τοῖς Βακχικοῖς ἔπεσί φησιν. Ἀστροφαῆ Διόνυσον ἐν ἀκτίνεσσι πυρωπόν. Ὄρφεὺς δέ, Τοὔνεκά μιν καλέουσι Φάνητά τε καὶ Διόνυσον. Φασὶ δέ τινες καὶ τὸ ἔναμμα αὐτῷ τὸ τῆς νεβρίδος, ἀπὸ τῆς τῶν ἄστρων ποικιλίας περιῆφθαι. Τὴν δὲ Ἶσιν μεθερμηνευομένην εἶναι Παλαιὰν, τεθειμένης τῆς προσηγορίας τῇ σελήνῃ ἀπὸ τῆς

This article seeks to clarify the theological significance of the event most often designated as the ascension, which Luke narrates in Luke 24:51 and Acts 1:2, 9-11, and 22. This event is also sometimes referred to as the assumption (or, taking-up) of Jesus. The paper argues that the latter terminology, while utilized far less frequently in the literature, may well be a more apt designation for the event. It makes a case that the event described in Luke 24:51 and Acts 1 should not be regarded as the ascension-exaltation of Jesus but rather as the taking up of Jesus. The study addresses the question of what relationship these taking-up narratives bear to the concept of Jesus’s exaltation (Acts 2:33-35), or, his entrance into glory (Luke 24:26). The paper first exegetes relevant texts outside of the taking-up narratives, and then these narratives themselves; it concludes with four proposed points of theological significance of the event.

Abbreviations of original source editions will be used in order to save space: CCL = Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina; GCS = Die griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller der ersten drei Jahrhunderte; MPG = J.-P. Migne, Patrologiae cursus completus, Series Graeca; SC = Sources Chrétiennes.

캠브리지 대학에서 오래 사역하였던 “그레이즈 인”의 설교자 리처드 십스의 성령론은 다음과 같은 특징들을 드러낸다.

첫째, 십스의 성령론은 성령의 신성을 분명히 견지한다. 십스는 삼위일체론을 부인했던 소키니우스파를 배격하고 성령의 신성을 강력하게 설파하였다. 성령은 피조물이 아닌 하나님이시다. 성령은 하나님의 영이시다. 성령은 창조와 구속의 사역을 행하신다. 성령은 순수한 영이시며, 신성에 걸맞은 이름과 위엄을 갖고 계신다.

둘째, 십스는 삼위일체론의 맥락에서 성령론을 파악한다. 십스는 필리오케(filioque) 전통을 받아들이고 그것을 더욱 확장시킨다. 그는 성령이 성부와 성자로부터 나오시기에 두 분의 사랑을 증거하시기에 적합한 분이라고 가르친다. 그는 본체적 삼위일체론과 경륜적 삼위일체론, 그리고 신자의 인식과 구원 경험에 있어서의 삼위일체론을 성령론적 맥락에서 설명한다. 그러면서도 현대 사회적 삼위일체주의자들이 빠지는 오류에 빠지지는 않는다.

셋째, 십스의 성령론은 기독론과의 밀접한 관련성 속에서 전개된다. 그는 칼케돈 정식에 따른 “두 본성 기독론”의 토대 위에서 “영-기독론”의 장점을 수용한다. 그리하여 칼케돈 기독론이 자칫 빠지기 쉬운 위험성을 극복한다. 특히 그리스도의 신인성의 결합과 그리스도의 사역을 성령론적으로 설명한 것은 백미(白眉)다.

넷째, 십스는 실천적인 성령론을 전개하였다. 청교도 신학은 실험신학(experimental theology) 혹은 경험신학(experiential theology)의 특징을 지닌다. 십스의 신학도 예외가 아니다. 성령론에서 그는 그리스도 안에 계신 성령과 우리 안에 계시는 성령의 유사성을 바탕으로 심도 깊은 경험신학을 전개했다. 하지만 말씀 중심의 신학을 견지함으로써 주관화와 신비주의로 경도되지는 않았다.

이상과 같은 십스의 성령론은 지나친 은사주의, 삼위일체론 및 기독론으로부터 탈리(脫離)된 성령 중심의 신학, 말씀과 성령의 분리 현상, 성령에 대한 무관심 등 현대 한국교회에 나타나는 다양한 형태의 성령론적 문제들을 대응하는 신학적 기초를 든든하게 마련해 준다.

마지막으로 한 가지 지적하고 싶은 부분은 십스의 성령론이 그의 설교들에서 가장 건실하면서도 풍부하게 드러나고 있다는 점이다. 이것은 현대 교회의 강단에서 행해지는 설교가 보다 깊은 신학적 토대 위에서 이뤄질 때 성도들에게 보다 큰 유익을 줄 수 있음을 시사한다. 청교도 신학이 오늘날 우리들에게 여전히 필요한 까닭도 거기에 있다.

This BA Thesis concerns research that shows the possibility of prophecy reception and divine revelation being placed within the human inner faculties, and paralleled with mental functions. It's purpose was to discuss the physiological nature of prophetic reception, proposing that prophetic reception capability is a natural component of each human, not simply of chosen individuals and depends upon the chosen inner disposition of individuals, not on the monergistic action of God, or a divinity.
It examines evidence from the concept of prophecy in the Hebrew Bible, the concept of the Spirit speaking in the book of Acts, exegetical testing of the inner reception theory in OT and NT contexts, modern (20-21st century) occurrences of prophetic-like activity, and neuroscientific findings that could offer insight into the physiology of the prophetic reception phenomenon. While the size of the paper does not permit for verification of all the facets proposed, it offers convincing evidence which demands further study in this area, demystifying prophecy and opening the door for scientific understanding of the phenomenon and potential marriage between scientific study and ancient literature.

The Trinitarian discourse of the 4th and 5th centuries grew out of earlier developments, whilst at the same time reflecting a renewal over against the language of the earliest Christian sources. This article reflects on the way in which early Christianity thought about the Holy Spirit and developed a new discourse on the basis of earlier, Jewish traditions. It situates the development of the idea of the Holy Spirit as God's presence in past and present within the social history of the developing Christian movement, and shows how this idea was connected to the concept of apostolic succession. Thus, emerging Christianity legitimised itself and its social structures by the theology of the Holy Spirit. Its message was presented as old instead of new, as the Holy Spirit had foretold the Christ event. Its organisation was seen as divinely inspired, because its leaders were thought to be endowed with the Spirit. In this development, the narrative of Luke-Acts has thoroughly influenced the way in which Christianity developed a new discourse to present itself as old.

(From the introduction by the editors:) Volker Rabens untersucht in seinem Beitrag „Sein und Werden in Beziehungen. Grundzüge relationaler Theologie bei Paulus und Johannes“, wie in diesen Textcorpora Relationen beschrieben werden, die Sein und (Verändert-)Werden des Menschen bestimmen. Rabens arbeitet heraus, „dass Relationalität in der paulinischen und johanneischen Literatur jeweils eigene Metaphorik und Ausdrucksformen gefunden hat, aber dass selbst auf der sprachlichen Ebene eine große Konvergenz festzustellen ist (z.B. in der Familien-Metaphorik).“ In seinem Aufsatz geht er im Anschluss an den Beitrag von Wilfried Härle auch ausführlich auf mögliche Missverständnisse gegenüber relationalen Ansätzen ein und profiliert diese so in Auseinandersetzung mit ihrer Kritik.

This paper discusses the activity of the Holy Spirit in the theme of living a life renewed by the Spirit in Romans 8:1-17. The main focus is to examine the role of the mind and way of thinking in achieving a walk by the Spirit. Both historical opinions and contemporary opinions about the nature of this sanctification are discussed before analysing the text itself using a literary and linguistic approach to exegesis.

This short article examines the notion of "walking" in Paul's letters, along with his command to "walk in the Spirit." For the Patheos version, see:
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/inchrist/2022/05/if-scripture-commands-us-to-walk-in-the-spirit-how-do-we-do-this/

A pleth ora of pneumatological is sues are sub ject to peren nial theo log i cal de bate. Karl Barth (d. 1968), Colin Gunton (d. 2003), and Max Turner have boldly en tered the fray and ad dressed some of the most chal leng ing of these is sues from or tho dox Trin i tar ian per spec tives. From within their own so cial and ec cle si as ti cal mi lieus, these men have grap pled hon estly, ca pa bly, and orig i nally with the ev idence of the bib li cal text, and have gen er ated sound ex plana tions of the Trin ity and, more particularly, biblical pneumatology.

The writer’s religious heritage, the Stone-Campbell Movement is deeply rooted in anti-denominational theory and rhetoric. In a widely distributed tract entitled Neither, Catholic, Protestant, Nor Jew, the anti-denominational sentiment is expressed, “Using the New Testament as our blueprint we have re-established in the twentieth century Christ’s church.  It fits no modern label.  It is not just another denomination.”  Generally, this antagonism has prompted a vitriolic posture that has been empty of the ideological rationale beyond denominational theory.  Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to identify the ideological origins of American denominationalism.

In media, political and lay representations of migrants it remains frequently the case that metaphors are systematically used in racist and demeaning manners, though also, occasionally, in positive ways empathizing with the plight of refugees, migrant com- munities and the sans papiers. In this piece, however, I wish to note the wider, more personal and speculative reasons as to why metaphors are so frequently used and are, it seems, so widely effective in shaping social perceptions. In late modernity, in the affluent north-west some name the migrant through demeaning metaphors in an attempt to deny their anxiety over their own inessence and instability, our  constant transferal in our species’ constitutive shapeshifting body that encompasses the linguistic being of the non-linguistic. I think this with and against the use of metaphors towards a sense of metamorphosis, including through a reading of the pneumatic body in Paul.

Investigations concerning the Holy Spirit have been a central feature of Luke-Acts scholarship throughout the last century and Luke-Acts has long served as the central battleground for a biblical pneumatology. Just as there was confusion among the crowds in interpreting the events of Pentecost in Acts 2, there has long been confusion on how we understand what people have long called the ‘baptism of the Holy Spirit’ or Spirit reception. People have long asked “What is this thing?” — “Are these people drunk?”

Claims to normativity or exceptionality of any particular account in Acts riddle biblical scholarship, and this is particularly problematic in Acts 8, dubbed the “Riddle in Samaria” by J.D.G. Dunn. This investigation will use social-scientific comparative methodology in order to untangle Dunn’s Samaritan riddle. Through comparison with four historically analogous revival events, the range of reported experience, phenomenon and praxis of the Acts accounts will be shown to be representative of the internal ranges of continuity and diversity found within analogous historical events. Thus, rather than the delay of the Spirit being a key to interpretation in Acts 8 as Dunn and so many others assert, it will be shown that Dunn’s riddle is in fact no riddle at all.

The Trinitarian discourse of the 4th and 5th centuries grew out of earlier developments, whilst at the same time reflecting a renewal over against the language of the earliest Christian sources. This article reflects on the way in which early Christianity thought about the Holy Spirit and developed a new discourse on the basis of earlier, Jewish traditions. It situates the development of the idea of the Holy Spirit as God’s presence in past and present within the social history of the developing Christian movement, and shows how this idea was connected to the concept of apostolic succession. Thus, emerging Christianity legitimised itself and its social structures by the theology of the Holy Spirit. Its message was presented as old instead of new, as the Holy Spirit had foretold the Christ event. Its organisation was seen as divinely inspired, because its leaders were thought to be endowed with the Spirit. In this development, the narrative of Luke-Acts has thoroughly influenced the ...