Holy Spirit Research Articles

The Priesthood of the Believers: Quakers and the Abolition of Slavery

Quakers became the first group in history to develop a consciousness about slavery and spearheaded the early movement in America and Britain that led to its abolition. Why did they develop this consciousness? What was the spiritual matrix that moved them to denounce a well-accepted and well-established practice that existed in most cultures from time out of mind? The following article helps answer this question. It particularly accents their radical emphasis upon egalitarianism—an emphasis that began in Christianity with the teachings of Jesus and Paul and came to the forefront in Protestantism with Martin Luther’s teaching on the priesthood of the believers. The Quakers followed the doctrine of equality in the Bible, particularly stressing the monogenetic origin of humans in the book of Genesis and the universal redemption of Christ for the fallen race of Adam. They took this egalitarian message much further than others through deconstructing Luther’s priesthood of the believers and rejecting the hierarchical structure of the church in toto, including any professional clergy that would administer the sacraments or preach an authoritative word from the Bible. All Christians were equal before God and received the same immediate instruction from the Holy Spirit, no matter what their race, gender, or position in life. This decided emphasis upon the priesthood of believers made Quakers treat everyone the same and led them to question the inferior status of blacks and a degrading institution like slavery.

The Holy Spirit as Person and Power: Charismatic Renewal and Its Implications for Theology , by Rob Yule

The Holy Spirit as Person and Power: Charismatic Renewal and Its Implications for Theology , by Rob Yule

The Holy Spirit in the Household

Abstract Why are the Bhil tribals increasingly converting to Pentecostalism in India? Drawing on more than a decade of in-depth ethnographic fieldwork among the Bhils in southern Rajasthan, this article argues that the Pentecostals have approached conversion not as “change of religion” (dharma parivartan) but as “holistic transformation of life” (jeevan parivartan). In a context in which the state has been withdrawing from providing basic social services to people at its margins, the pentecostal churches have come to play a vital role. Specifically, the article discusses that the presence of the Holy Spirit has brought about three major transformations—miracle healing, ethical subjectivity, and gender relations—in the lives of the Bhils. Finally, the article concludes that by combining developmental programs with prayer and fellowship, the pentecostal churches have not only brought ethical transformations among the Bhils but have also converted them “to a morally inspired existence.”

The Holy Spirit and Higher Education: Renewing the Christian University , by Amos Yong and Dale M. Coulter

The Holy Spirit and Higher Education: Renewing the Christian University , by Amos Yong and Dale M. Coulter

Richard R. Gaillardetz: An Appreciation of the Ecclesiologist and his Work

Abstract This tribute to Richard R. Gaillardetz was given as a lecture on September 24, 2022 at a conference held at Boston College honoring his contributions to the field of Ecclesiology. Gaillardetz, who is terminally ill, had delivered his own ‘last lecture’ the previous evening. This essay gives an overview of Gaillardetz’s work with a focus on the topic of authority in the Roman Catholic Church. Gaillardetz’s ecclesiological vision emphasizes how bishops should minister as witnesses to the faith in their local churches. Bishops and the pope have real and legitimate authority within a church informed by the Holy Spirit on all levels, including the entire People of God. Ecclesial structures are important, even essential, but still secondary to the ecclesial vitality brought about by the Spirit. Gaillardetz calls for a noncompetitive theology imbued with a sense of eschatological humility. Gaillardetz’s contributions to ecumenism and to the challenges of globalization are further explored.

The Holy Spirit, the Church, and Pneumatological Renewal: Mystici Corporis, Lumen Gentium and Beyond, written by Jos Moons SJ

The Holy Spirit, the Church, and Pneumatological Renewal: Mystici Corporis, Lumen Gentium and Beyond, written by Jos Moons SJ

THE CENTRIFUGAL AND CENTRIPETAL FORCE OF MISSION: EXEGETICAL INSIGHTS ON THE GOSPELS

The role of the Holy Spirit in Mission is twofold: centripetal and centrifugal. The centripetal role reflects the attractive force that the Holy Spirit performs by bringing people into the Kingdom, while the centrifugal force reflects the outward move in which the Holy Spirit empowers the believers to expand the Kingdom of God by taking the Gospel to all men. The Great Commission is simultaneously a call to mission in the sense of fulfilling the centrifugal mandate of bringing Christ to non-believers, and a centripetal mandate of drawing non-believers to Christ. This paper exegetes some key passages in order to highlight this twofold theological and missional aspect.

“In Communion with God”: The Inculturation of the Christian Liturgical Theology of Giulio Aleni in His Explication of the Mass (Misa Jiyi)

Liturgical practice and its theological interpretation are not only very important to the Chinese inculturation of Catholicism in particular and Christianity in general but also of great significance in the establishment of an indigenized Christian faith and system of life. This paper will analyze the methodological approaches and historical inspirations for the inculturation of Christian liturgical theology through Giulio Aleni’s (1582–1649) Explication of the Mass (Misa Jiyi, 弥撒祭义), the first book to utilize Chinese cultural resources to systematically interpret the Mass (Eucharist). Continuing the general Jesuit accommodation initiated by Matteo Ricci, Aleni established an indigenized liturgical system of theology through intercultural learning, borrowing, and creative construction. Three of his contributions especially stand out. First, Aleni explained the significance of the Mass in terms of the Chinese philosophical–ethical concepts of “repaying the roots” (baoben, 报本) and “giving thanks” (gan’en, 感恩). Second, he elaborated on communion with the Trinitarian God in the Mass through Jesus Christ by drawing on the ancient Chinese teachings of repaying (chou, 酬), commemoration (shi, 示), and hope (wang, 望), which Aleni related to “giving thanks to the Father,” “commemorating Jesus,” and “invoking the Holy Spirit.” Finally, he provided a deep spiritual explanation of the Mass, using the traditional Confucian concepts of “self-restraint” (keji, 克己), “self-reflection” (fanji, 反己), and “spiritual meditation” (chouyi, 抽绎) to help believers understand the activities of repentance, commemoration, and prayer in the Mass. Overall, Aleni emphasized that the essence of the Mass was to achieve “communion with the heart of heavenly Lord” (xihe tianzhuzhixin, 翕合天主之心), which, as a pivot of faith, could be extended into daily life through its spiritual practice. Aleni, therefore, established a comprehensive system of “liturgy-spirituality-life” for Chinese Christians by indigenizing Christian liturgical theology through intercultural learning. His creative synthesis yielded a dynamic balance between Christian and Chinese traditions, absorbing Confucian resources to imaginatively enrich and expand the Christian tradition, while encouraging the creative transformation of the Christian tradition into the Chinese cultural community.

Abraham Abulafia's mysticism of divine flux

Abraham Abulafia was a unique Jewish mystic of the thirteenth century. He was well versed in the works of Moses Maimonides and other philosophers and also had a deep understanding of letter permutation mysticism developed from various commentaries of Sefer YeṢirah. These diverse influences led Abulafia to develop a world-view emphasizing the differences between philosophical, traditional and Kabbalistic discourses. However, he argued that, ultimately, they refer to similar dynamics. This article focuses on the central role of divine flow (shefa) and the holy spirit in Abulafia's thought. The concept of the holy spirit as overflow was widely used in medieval literature across various religious traditions, such as Judaism, Islam and Christianity, to understand the nature of divine agency, causality and inspiration. Abulafia utilized this broad understanding to argue that all forms of discourse, whether philosophical or religious, are limited forms of the divine overflow. The only actual reality is the unified flow that transcends all forms of discourse and metaphysical and mental structures. Therefore, according to Abulafia, the mystical path is to transcend all forms of discourse and one's mental faculties and reach the state of union with the absolute divine flux.

Experiencing God in the Gospel of John

What does experiencing God look like in the Gospel of John, and what questions or possibilities might such an investigation raise for our own religious experience? To work within the scope of this essay, I limit the discussion primarily to the Farewell Discourse (chs. 14–17) and address the following as it relates to experiencing God: 1) the text as revelatory; 2) the senses; 3) union with God and Jesus; 4) the divine name; 5) and the Holy Spirit. I conclude with a word about the transformation that comes from experiencing God.

“Receive the Holy Spirit”

A pivotal moment in the Gospel of John comes when the resurrected Jesus breathes the Spirit into his disciples and sends them as he was sent. The double thrust of Johannine spirituality is desiring Jesus and desiring what he desires: on the one hand, going deeper into relationship with Jesus in trust, understanding and love; and, on the other hand, going deeper into the world now, inspired by how Jesus was sent, with learning, praying, and loving as the core practices of disciples.

Neoprotestantism and Neopaganism as Forms of Opposition to the Orthodox Christianity in Russia

In medieval Russia and even later on, being Russian meant being an Orthodox Christian. And yet, neopaganism nowadays tries to promote the image of a truly Russian person as a non-Orthodox believer. It therefore seems interesting to compare the spiritual path of neoprotestants and neopagans, as equally seeking to remove believers from the Orthodox Church and off er alternative perspectives for their spiritual life. In both cases, the correlation between the need for the rejection of believers from the dominant Church and the cultivation of the sin of pride in them (the position of their personal preferences and the constant construction of a convincing picture of the world as the standard of correct faith) will serve as a working hypothesis of the study. In that case, neoprotestantism and neopaganism are both the forms of the overproud exaltation of the narrow human mind over the truth once given by God and kept by the Church. The fundamental position of personal preferences and the constant construction of a convincing picture of the world as the standard of correct faith is the practical realization of this idea. For neoprotestants, their personal freedom holds an absolute priority over the tradition. Therefore, belonging to a particular community takes as little importance for them as it does for neopagans. At the same time, neopaganism culturologically represents an example of the transition from modernity to postmodernity, being an example of placing faith in any concepts, even obviously artifi cial, eclectic or recently invented ones. Based on the evidence of St. John of the Ladder and St. Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky), it is shown in the article that being in heresy or unorthodoxy indicates the theological ignorance and the unstable position of its adherents. This, in turn, gives rise to lies and other passions, examples of which are listed in the article. Neoprotestants and neopagans can be also united in their fundamental anti-historicism and the humiliation of the Holy Spirit. Ultimately, they are all forced to constantly supplement and construct their own faith, starting from some generally accepted principles. The current trends in the doctrines of neoprotestants and neopagans are therefore often based on the agreement with the “spirit of the times” and the authority of the public opinion.

Strengthening Catholic Youth Participation In Church Life

Currently, the participation of young Catholics in the life of the church is very concerning. Their motivation, interest and concern for the growth and development of the Church, here and now, is very low. This problem is also experienced by most young Catholics in the Holy Spirit Stasi, Arus, Bangka Arus Village, East Lamba Leda District, East Manggarai Regency. So that, the solution offered by the PkM team to this problem is an effort to assist and re-strengthen their participation in church life. The stages and methods in this empowerment activity are starting with preparation and planning, then organizing and assisting activities, and ending with monitoring and evaluation. The target of this PkM is all young Catholics in Arus, Bangka Arus Village, District Lamba Leda Timur, East Manggarai Regency. The final results of the PkM show that the Catholic youth in the Holy Spirit, Arus, was very enthusiastic in participating in ecclesiastical activities. They are increasingly aware of and paying attention to the life of the church, especially in aspect fellowship, worship, preaching, and aspects of service.

A Pentecostal Perspective on The Great Commission and Its Application in Gereja Bethel Indonesia

The Great Commission has been considered as one of the most important commands of Jesus Christ by the church. It has been passed down from the disciples to the early church fathers and so on until today. Many followers of Christ have tried to fulfill it to their best effort. However, the interpretation of such command, and therefore its implementations, in different churches throughout history, have not always been the same. Without saying that these approaches are wrong, more often than not, they are quite pragmatic and therefore they tend to become the end rather than the means to usher the ultimate vision of what Jesus’ followers ought to live. Additionally, the crucial role of the Holy Spirit is often downplayed in these missionary efforts. This paper attempts to provide a discussion in relation to the Great Commission from a Pentecostal perspective and to suggest some steps that can be applied in Gereja Bethel Indonesia (GBI) in its missionary approach as a result of this perspective. GBI was chosen as it is the largest Pentecostal Church in Indonesia.

Pneumasis/pneumafication Based on Romans 8:1–17: Highlighting the Spirit’s Role in Deification

In view of the two key themes found in Romans: pneumatology and deification, some pressing questions can be asked. One of these is, what is the role of the Holy Spirit in deification? This essay identifies one area of the work of the Holy Spirit presented in Romans that is often neglected in New Testament (NT) pneumatology, soteriology, and anthropology. This paper argues that, in Romans 8:1–17, the crucial role of the Spirit, as an active person in the triune Godhead, in possessing and being possessed by believers and facilitating the mutual indwelling of Christ and his co-sufferers, is best captured by a new term, namely, pneumasis or pneumafication. In other words, theosis/deification and Christosis/Christification are made possible by pneumasis/pneumafication.

The rarest among the rare? Acrometastases and disability in the past and beyond

AbstractMetastatic bone disease significantly impacts cancer‐related morbidity and mortality nowadays. Herein, we present an adult individual, probably a female, with multiple osteolytic lesions, of variable sizes, distributed predominantly in the axial skeleton but also affecting elements of the appendicular region. This individual also exhibits atypical manifestations of metastatic bone disease, in the form of acrometastases—metastases in the extremities, which are uncommon events in current clinical settings. The individual's skeletonized remains were exhumed from a crypt in the Chapel of the Holy Spirit (Espírito Santo), Loures, Portugal, and have been dated from the 16th to 19th centuries. The multiple osteolytic lesions, noted both by direct and radiological observations, are discussed to expand the knowledge regarding disease manifestations in the past but also to reflect on disability and suffering in past individuals affected by oncologic ailments.

The Trinity and the Arts: Toward a Christian Poetics

AbstractThe purpose of this essay is to explore the question of a Christian poetics, and to see what, if anything, the doctrine of the Trinity has to do with it. Our conclusion is that the doctrine of the Trinity, far from being accidental to Christian poiesis, is fundamental to any account of it—if indeed all phenomena are analogues of the eternal phenomenality of the Son vis‐à‐vis the Father, and if all that is made is made through the Son by the power of the Creator Spirit. To this end, however, it is argued that Christian poetics implies a particular kind of metaphysics as well, namely, an analogical metaphysics, which is able to do justice to the interplay of essence and existence in creatures, which is cognate with the aesthetic interplay of form and novelty. The result of these explorations is not only a proposed standard, comprising four theses, for Christian art, but also an ecumenical proposal for how to think about the Trinity (and the Filioque) anew—not by dispensing with Augustine's psychological analogy, but by supplementing it with an artistic analogy, specifically, with the help of the patristic trope of the Son as the Ars Patris in whom the Father eternally delights. The final result is a clearer picture of the role of the Holy Spirit, in God and in creation, and of the spiritual‐poetic vocation of the imago Dei.

Prophethood of All Believers in Early Christianity and Its Implication for Neo-Pentecostal Prophecy: A Pneumatological Imagination Approach

Contrary to the individualistic contemporary practices of prophecy, the practice of prophecy in early Christianity, particularly the Pentecost narrative in Luke-Acts, was a function of all believers. This approach is framed here as the prophethood of all believers using a pneumatological imagination. The approach is relevant to address the challenges of the individualistic approach in the contemporary practices of neo-Pentecostal prophecy. These challenges are highlighted here to point out abuses of prophecy in the twenty-first century. The Pentecost narrative in the early church in Luke-Acts is introduced as the background to this study. The article demonstrates that the pneumatic experiences including prophecy which come through the baptism of the Holy Spirit are experienced by all believers. This is a ground for the prophethood of all believers in early Christianity in Luke-Acts. However, the contemporary practice of prophecy in African neo-Pentecostalism is more individualistic than inclusive. The aim of this article is to propose an inclusive approach as was the practice of the early Christians in Luke-Acts.

Benny Hinn’s Book “Good Morning, Holy Spirit!” in the Light of the Dogmatic Teaching of the Orthodox Church

This article deals with Triadology, Christology, and the ascetical theology of the Charismatic Pentecostals according to Benny Hinn's book "Good Morning, Holy Spirit!" The purpose of this article is not to defame or in any way denigrate the Charismatic movement, but simply to examine the creed of this religious group from the point of view of Orthodox dogmatics. In the Triadology of Benny Hinn, two main theses have been identified. First, the differences between the Persons of the Most Holy Trinity are not limited to the hypostatic properties and what they entail. Second, the author implies that the natural connection between the Son and the Father is not accompanied by direct communication, but that it is the Holy Spirit who carries out the mutual relationship between the Father and the Son. In the Christology of Benny Hinn, three main theses have also been identified. First, his doctrine is characterized by a certain separation of two natures in Jesus, reminiscent of Nestorianism. Second, according to the author's teaching, the Holy Spirit is also "the Father" of Jesus Christ. Third, Jesus Christ was capable of sin. Finally, in Benny Hinn's ascetical theology, two theses were highlighted. First, the victory over sin is not a joint action of man and God but a gift of the Holy Spirit, with no need for human spiritual struggle. Second, to be Christian means not to follow Christ but the Spirit. Undoubtedly, this teaching in no way corresponds to the teaching of the Orthodox Church and may thus be considered heretical from the Orthodox point of view.

The Mystical Dynamics of the Holy Spirit in Moses Nahmanides' Writings

Abstract: This essay explores Nahmanides' teachings concerning the holy spirit. It demonstrates that he elevated the holy spirit to the highest possible gradation in the godhead—conceived as the divine essence that flows through the various gradations of the godhead and into the perfected individual, inducing a variety of revelations: subprophetic, prophetic, and eschatological. The holy spirit in Nahmanides' thought is the driving force behind his conceptualization of the godhead, the community of Israel and its leadership, and the individual Jew—throughout their various phases of self-actualization, that is, becoming spirit. He placed the holy spirit along a spectrum of spirituality—the least spiritual stage is that of people who glimpse the future and those men of the holy spirit, while the most spiritual stage is that of the eschatological state of being, in which the spiritual faculties permanently overtake the corporeal faculties. Furthermore, Nahmanides crafted spaces structured by the spirit in the forms of the Jerusalem temple and contemporary rabbinic courts. This essay concludes by drawing attention to the similarities between Nahmanides' conception of the holy spirit and the common conception of the holy spirit in medieval Christianity, thereby analyzing Nahmanides' conception of the holy spirit in its historical and religious context: situated between mystical, philosophical, and polemical tensions.