2011/3 (LIII)

ARTICLES

• Antony Tiselton 7

  The Holy Spirit in the Latin Fathers with Special Reference to Their Use of 1. Corinthians 12 and This Chapter in Modern Scholarship

  Abstract:

  How did the Latin Fathers make use of 1Corinthians 12 to illuminate their theology of the Holy Spirit? This study compares the four sections of the chapter (12:1–3, 12:4–7; 12:8–11; and 12:12–30) with modern biblical scholarship on one side, and with the Church Fathers on the other. On 12:1–3, Hilary, Ambrose, and other Western Fathers address the agency of the Spirit in confessing “Jesus is Lord”. But there are two differences from modern writings. First, modern suggests a number of hypotheses about Ana,qema VIhsou/j, especially Bruce Winter’s probable explanation, while the Fathers tend to gloss over this part of v. 3. Second, the ontological emphasis of the Fathers on “Lord” (Ku,rioj) is still needed to complement the existential emphasis of most modern writers. On 12:4–7 the explicitly Trinitarian emphasis of the Fathers from Irenaeus to Ambrose and Augustine has much to say about the over-cautious approach of many modern biblical scholars. On 12:10–11, the Fathers address the individual “gifts of the Spirit”, but there are many more specific suggestions in modern scholarship, which need to be taken seriously, especially on prophecy. On the other hand, they are less “dualistic” on healing and other gifts. On 12:12–30 the Fathers genuinely expound the thought of Paul. But they miss some points, recovered in modern thought, especially Dale Martin’s correct emphasis on “reversals” of the body imagery.

  Keywords:

  Holy Spirit – gifts – Latin Fathers

• Joost Van Rossum 25

  The Experience of the Holy Spirit in Greek Patristic and Byzantine Theology

  Abstract:

  The book On the Holy Spirit by Basil of Caesarea, one of the “classics” in patristic literature, has originally been an occasional work, written at the request of his friend Amphilochius, Bishop of Iconium, in order to give a response to the arguments of the Pneumatomachians who denied that the Holy Spirit is equal to the Father and the Son. In the midst of this technical and theological discussion appears a chapter (Chapter IX), in which Basil speaks about the experience of the Holy Spirit. He argues that we cannot know who or what the Holy Spirit is, but we are able to know what He does. The manifestation of the Holy Spirit has three main characteristics. It is personalistic: the Holy Spirit is not only a Divine Gift, but also a Divine Person; God is revealed by the illumination of the Holy Spirit as Trinity: the Spirit leads us to the Son (the “image of the Father”), and the Son leads us to the Father. The manifestation of the Holy Spirit is also christocentric: the Persons or Hypostaseis of the Father and the Holy Spirit are not revealed, but only Christ has manifested His Hypostasis. Finally, the manifestation of the Holy Spirit is the revelation of the eschaton, the Kingdom of God, the “dance with the angels”. These three aspects of Basil’s pneumatology: personalism, christocentrism and eschatology, return in the wrings of two major Byzantine theologians, Symeon the New Theologian (11th century) and Gregory Palamas (14th century). The personalism of Greek patristic and Byzantine Trinitarian theology lies at the bottom of the rejection of the Western doctrine of the Filioque by Orthodox theologians.

  Keywords:

  Holy Spirit – Greek Fathers – Personalism – Filioque

• Athanasios Papathanasiou 40

  If I Cross the Boundaries, You Are There! An Affirmation of God´s Action Outsider the Canonical Boundaries of the Church

  Abstract:

  This article deals with the question of God’s salvific action outside the Church and traces answers given in ecumenical circles duringthe last century. Orthodox theology criticized Christomonism and triggered the rediscovery of the universal activity of the Spirit. However, some theological trends developed Pneumatology at the expense of Christology. The article argues that a synthesis of Christology and Pneumatology can give adequate answers, stressing the notion of the cosmic Christ and cosmic Holy Spirit. The work of Nicholas Cabasilas, a fourteenth-century Orthodox theologian, serves as an example of this kind of approach.

  Keywords:

  Holy Spirit – Cosmic Christ – Orthodox theology – Christomonism – Pneumatology – Baptism – Nicholas Cabasilas – Georges Khodr

• Jim Purves 56

  Water, Fire and Wind: Visiting the Roots of Pentecostal Pneumatology

  Abstract:

  In this essay, we seek to engage with a Pentecostal understanding of the Holy Spirit through two stages of analysis. Firstly, we look at historic features of the Holy Spirit’s perceived presence and activity within Pentecostalism. From there we proceed to reflection on indicators and affects of the Holy Spirit as perceived from within Pentecostalism, noting some Pentecostal scholars’ critiques, before going on to examine whether these indicators and affects can be understood and described in a manner accessible to the language and conceptual framework of Constantinian Christianity. In the second part of the essay, we reflect on observations arising out of the first stage of analysis from within a context which, whilst being experientially Pentecostal, is voiced from a European, Reformed, dogmatic framework that seeks dialogue within a wider global context. We seek to identify the critical foci that can be found in the rehearsed Pentecostal perspective on the Holy Spirit, and conclude by examining whether we can further develop expression and language more adequately inclusive of Pentecostal appreciation and experience of the Spirit of God.

  Keywords:

  Holy Spirit – Pentecostal Theology – Constantinian Christianity – experience – eschatology

BOOK REVIEWS

• Ivan Landa 74

  M. D. Krüger, Die trinitarische Spekulation und göttliche Freiheit beim späten Schelling

• Kristýna Obrdlíková 87

  Matthew C. Steenberg, Irenaeus on Creation

• Ivana Noble 91

  Bruce T. Morrill, Divine Worship and Human Healing