Role of the Holy Spirit in Protestant Systematic Theology

A Comparative Study between Karl Barth, Jürgen Moltmann, and Wolfhart Pannenberg

Wilson Varkey

• Publisher: Langham Monographs
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN: 9781907713101
• eBook ISBN: 9781907713187
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Theology

This volume is a meticulously researched text on pneumatology which puts the major pneumatological issues together without confining to the traditional way of dealing with the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Although pneumatology has been a neglected field in theological discussions of the past, there is a renewal of interest among theologians on pneumatology today. This renewal of interest has led to the formation of this work on the role of the Holy Spirit in the Protestant Systematic Theology. Through highlighting the role and significance of the Holy Spirit in the whole divine action, this volume contends that pneumatology is not a dull theological locus, but rather an essential theological disposition relevant for today. The detailed arguments found within challenge and inspire the contemporary pneumatological discussions as it relates to all the facets of theological reflection and action.

Notes

1. The Hebrew term that denotes Holy Spirit is ruah. The Greek is pneuma. Both these terms are like the Latin spiritus, derived from roots which means “to breath” (Gen 1:7; 6:17; Ezek 37:5-6; or “wind” Gen 8:1; I Kgs 19:11; Jn 3:8). The Old Testament generally uses the term “Spirit” without any qualification, or speaks of “the Spirit of God” or “the Spirit of the Lord”, and employs the term “Holy Spirit” only in Ps 51:11 and Isa 63:10-11. However, in the New Testament this has become a common designation of the third person in the Trinity. While the Old Testament repeatedly calls God “the Holy one of Israel” (Ps 71:22; 89:18; Isa 10:20; 41:14; 43:3; 48:17), the New Testament seldom applies the adjective “holy” to God in general, but uses it frequently to characterize the Spirit. This is probably due to the fact that it was especially in the Spirit and his sanctifying work that God revealed himself as the Holy one. See Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology (London: Banner of Truth, 1971), 95.
2. Paul F. M. Zahl, “The Spirit in the Blood,” Anglican Theological Review vol. 83, no. 3 (Summer 2001), 496; Colin E. Gunton explains that there are at least three places where we find highly varying accounts of the person and work of the Holy Spirit. One is the mainstream dogmatic tradition, which tends to concentrate on the work of the Spirit as applying the benefits of Christ to the believer and the church. The second source for the modern identification of the Spirit is the charismatic movement. They tend to separate the Son and the Spirit from one another and identify the Spirit as the cause of particular religious phenomena. The third place is the modern identification of the Spirit, which is more broadly cultural than the other influences. They identify the Spirit with or in particular cultural and historical developments. See Colin E. Gunton, Theology Through the Theologians: Selected Essays 1972-1995 (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1996), 105-108.
3. Origen is noted as the first Greek Father to have contributed to a systematic treatment of the Holy Spirit. Although Origen remains vague on nature and status, he describes the Holy Spirit in terms of a single reality. See Clint Tibbs, Religious Experience of the Pneuma: Communication with the Spirit World in 1 Corinthians 12 and 14 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2007), 63; for an excellent discussion on Origen, see P. Tzamalikos, Origen: Cosmology and Ontology of Time (Boston: Brill, 2006).
4. The doctrine of the Holy Spirit intersects with at least three established sectors of Christian Theology. They are in relation to grace and sacramental life, church and ministry, and the distinctive Christian treatment of God as Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. See David B. Burrell, “The Spirit and the Christian Life,” in Christian Theology: An Introduction to Its Traditions and Tasks, eds., Peter C. Hodgson and Robert H. King (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1988), 304.
5. Wolfhart Pannenberg, Jesus – God and Man, trans. Lewis L. Wilkins and Duane A. Priebe (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1968), 11.
6. Sang-Hwan Lee, “The Relevance of St. Basil’s Pneumatology to Modern Pentecostalism,” Cyber Journal for Pentecostal Research (February 2000), http://www.pctii.org/cyberj/cyberj7/lee.html. 20.05.2008.
7. Travis Du Priest, “Spirit: Inner Witness and Guardian of the Soul,” Anglican Theological Review vol. 83, no. 3 (Summer 2001), 391.
8. Gerard Longhlin, “Writing the Trinity,” Theology, vol. 97, no. 776 (March–April, 1994), 82.
9. Wolfhart Pannenberg, Systematic Theology vol. 1, trans. Geoffrey W. Bromiley (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1991), 383-384.
10. Thomas Hughson, S. J., “Citizenship: Re-Minded by the Holy Spirit,” Anglican Theological Review vol. 83, no. 3 (Summer 2001), 575.
11. Hughson, “Citizenship,” 568.
12. Hughson, “Citizenship,” 569.
13. Stanley J. Grenz and John R. Franke, Beyond Foundationalism: Shaping Theology in a Postmodern Context (Louisville: Westminster, 2001), 69.
14. Grenz and Franke, Beyond Foundationalism, 71.
15. Louis Weil, “The Holy Spirit: Source of Unity in the Liturgy,” Anglican Theological Review vol. 83, no. 3 (Summer 2001), 411; for a detailed study of Eastern approach on the Spirit, see Petro B. T. Bilaniuk, Theology and Economy of the Holy Spirit: An Eastern Approach (Bangalore: Dharmaram, 1980); Stanley M. Burgess, Eastern Christian Traditions: The Holy Spirit (Peabody: Hendrickson, 2000).
16. Weil, “The Holy Spirit,” 412.
17. Bernard L. Ramm, The Pattern of Religious Authority (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1959), 28.
18. John H. Leith, ed., The Creeds of the Churches: A Reader in Christian Doctrine from the Bible to the Present, 3rd ed. (Atlanta: John Knox, 1982), 196.
19. Grenz and Franke, Beyond Foundationalism, 65.
20. Grenz and Franke, Beyond Foundationalism, 65; Stanley J. Grenz, “The Spirit and the Word: The World Creating Function of the Text,” Theology Today vol. 57, no. 3 (October, 2000), 357-374.
21. Grenz and Franke, Beyond Foundationalism, 75.
22. Paul J. Achtmeier, The Inspiration of Scripture (Philadelphia: Westminster, ...

Table of contents

• Foreword
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• A Paradigm Shift: Brief Survey of Reformer’s Pneumatology
• Pneumatology of Karl Barth (1886 – 1968)
• Pneumatology of Jürgen Moltmann (1926 - )
• Pneumatology of Wolfhart Pannenberg (1928 - )
• Come Creator Spirit: Towards A Theology of the Holy Spirit
• Bibliography
• Notes
• Copyright