Pneumatology and Theology of the Cross in the Preaching of Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt

The Holy Spirit Between Wittenberg and Azusa Street

Simeon Zahl

• Publisher: T&T Clark
• Year: 2010
• Print ISBN: 9780567472403
• eBook ISBN: 9780567133113
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Theology

Thisbook identifies the impasse between classical Protestant and contemporary charismatic and Pentecostal pneumatologies as a fundamental theological problem. Its goal is to contribute a constructive pneumatological proposal for moving beyond this impasse, based on the resources of the theology of Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt (1842-1919). The disagreement is over the question of unmediated experience of the Holy Spirit. Luther's rejection of 'enthusiastic' pneumatologies on the basis of a narrow concept of the mediation of the Word and a pessimistic anthropology became Protestant orthodoxy. In relation to classical Protestantism, the primary theological distinctive of charismatic theology is its strong affirmation of unmediated experience of the Spirit in Christian life and worship. The Pentecostal movement's rapid growth in the past century has brought this difference to the fore. Christoph Blumhardt's theology, which integrates pessimistic anthropology and unmediated experience, is well-suited to exploring the impasse between the two theological traditions.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• 1 Christoph Blumhardt and the Contemporary Pneumatological Impasse
• 2 “Die, So That Jesus May Live!”: Christoph Blumhardt’s Turn to Theology of the Cross, 1888–96
• 3 Gedanken aus dem Reiche Gottes: Eschatology in Blumhardt’s Theology, 1888–96
• 4 Schwärmerei? The Category of “Experience” in Blumhardt’s Theology, 1888–96
• 5 Blumhardt’s Life and Thought, 1897–1919
• 6 Blumhardt’s Pneumatology: Contributions and Critical Reflection
• 7 Blumhardt’s Pneumatology in Dialogue: Contemporary Pentecostal Theology and Martin Luther
• 8 Beyond the Impasse: “Negative” Experience of the Holy Spirit in the Christian Life
• Bibliography
• Index