Hello, it's Alistair McGrath again, introducing you to my textbook, Christian Theology and Introduction. We now come to the twelfth chapter, which deals with the place of the Holy Spirit in Christian thought. And this chapter considers some leading themes in this area of theology, which is often referred to as Pneumatology.
Pneumatology, from the Greek word pneuma meaning spirit. Now earlier editions of my textbook treat the Holy Spirit as a section within the doctrine of the Trinity but in this sixth edition we've expanded this discussion considerably and we've created an entire chapter specifically dedicated to the theology of the Holy Spirit and it's much better and readers really like this new format. So what does this new chapter look like?
Well it opens with a reflection on the biblical witness noting in particular the multiple meanings of the Hebrew word ruach, which can be translated as breath or wind or spirit. And it teases out some of the biblical themes linked with this area of theology, which have helped shaped Christian discussion of the Holy Spirit. After this, we move on to the patristic period. I've emphasized already how important this period was in catalysing the emergence of Christian theology.
And certainly early church theologians worked very hard to clarify the distinct place of the Holy Spirit in the Christian understanding of God. And Irenaeus of Lyon in the second century basically helped us to understand how patristic theologians tried to clarify the distinct roles of Christ and the Spirit. in the Christian understanding of revelation and salvation.
So in this very important book, The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching, Irenaeus insisted upon the distinct yet related roles of Father, Son and Spirit within the economy of salvation. And interestingly, he saw the Spirit primarily as God's means of renewing and restoring human nature and of course as inspiring prophecy. And Irenaeus clearly believed that the idea of a personal entity called the Spirit alongside God the Father and Jesus Christ as the Son and Word of God was an integral aspect of the faith handed down to the church from the apostles. Yet a more critical group within the early church raised questions about whether the Spirit really could be said to be divine. The Spirit might be holy, but that didn't mean it was necessarily divine.
The Bible, they argued, did not speak explicitly of the Holy Spirit as divine. So writers of the 4th century such as Athanasius of Alexandria and Basil of Caesarea appealed to the formula by then used universally at Christian baptism. Christians were baptised in the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Athanasius argued that the baptismal formula clearly pointed to the Spirit's sharing. the same divine status and nature as the Father and the Son. Didymus the Blind, who died in 398, was one of many writers who pointed out the Spirit was responsible for the creation, renewing and sanctification of God's creatures.
But he asked, how could one creature renew or sanctify another creature? Only if the Spirit was divine could sense be made of these functions. If the Holy Spirit performed functions specific to God than the Spirit shares in the divine nature.
Yet some patristic writers still were hesitant. They didn't want to speak openly the Spirit as God because this practice was not explicitly sanctioned by Scripture. And certainly writers such as Basil of Caesarea were very sensitive to this point. And even as late as 380, writers like Gregory of Nazianzus conceded that many Orthodox Christian theologians were uncertain about best way of dealing with this.
The Council of Constantinople in 381 did not reference the Spirit explicitly as God but as the Lord and Giver of life who proceeds from the Father and is worshipped and glorified with the Father and Son. That's an important statement because the Spirit is here treated as having the same dignity and rank as the Father and Son, even though the term God is not used explicitly. We also look at the views of Augustine of Hippo on the Spirit as the bond of unity, as well as the theological symbolism of the Spirit.
Early Christianity developed a range of symbols as ways of expressing its fundamental beliefs and values. how the symbol of a fish emerged as an important way of symbolizing core Christian beliefs about the identity and significance of Jesus Christ. And three other symbols emerged as important around this time, each specifically linked with the Holy Spirit.
A dove, fire and oil. So let's look at a second of these briefly. The image of fire is traditionally associated with Pentecost.
the Christian feast which focused on the person of the Holy Spirit and of course it's picking up on the the narrative of Acts chapter 2. And you can see the symbolism of fire in this 14th century Italian painting by Duccio. This tradition of course goes back to the New Testament which speaks of divided tongues as a fire appearing among those present on the original day of Pentecost. And you can see this in this painting.
The symbol of the Spirit here is clearly presented as fire, if you like, hovering over the Apostles. And the symbol of the Spirit is very often used to highlight the role of the Holy Spirit in purifying or sanctifying individuals by burning off impurities, just as a refiner would purify metal. The chapter then moves on to consider a controversy, often referred to as the Filioque controversy.
And it refers to the controversy between the Eastern and Western churches over the increasing trend within Western Christianity to speak of the Spirit as proceeding from the Father and the Son, whereas Eastern Christianity spoke of the Spirit as proceeding from the Father. So this section outlines the historical development of this debate. and tries to identify the theological concerns which lie beneath its surface.
Now diagrams can be helpful in grasping difficult ideas. So here's a diagram included in this chapter which illustrates the position generally adopted by the Greek-speaking Eastern Church, exemplified by the Cappadocian fathers. And here's a diagram included in this chapter illustrating the position generally adopted by the Latin-speaking Western Church, exemplified by Gustav Hitler.
You may find these helpful in trying to think about this matter. The chapter then moves on to look at four more recent trends in discussing the Holy Spirit, including Jonathan Edwards'views on the Holy Spirit and the Great Awakening in colonial America back in the 18th century. and the important statements of the Second Vatican Council on the Holy Spirit during the 1960s.
And we also look at the role of the Holy Spirit in liberation theology, which focuses on the role of the Spirit in creating empowerment. and also within feminism, focusing on the links between the Holy Spirit and relationality. And Elizabeth Johnson's a very good example of a feminist theologian, who understands the Spirit as a source of a relationality, which reflects the Spirit's distinct identity as love, gift and friend. So what does the Holy Spirit actually do? In the final section of this chapter we look at four major themes in Christian reflection on the personal work of the Holy Spirit.
The first is the Holy Spirit is a way of thinking about God's active presence in the world. God isn't passive or inactive, God is active. There's been a major theme in recent theological reflection on the nature of mission and evangelism.
In his encyclical letter Dominum Vivificatum A Latin phrase which means the Lord and giver of life, published on Pentecost 1986, Pope John Paul II emphasized the Holy Spirit was actively present when anyone confronts or attempts to answer ultimate questions in life, including religious questions. A second approach sees the Holy Spirit as the one who illuminates revelation, who helps us to understand things. And many Christian writers speak of the Holy Spirit in terms of some kind of supernatural light which enables people to see beyond the limits of natural human vision. We find a good example of this approach in the discussion of the role of the Spirit in Cyril of Jerusalem's catechetical lectures delivered in Jerusalem around the year 350. And Cyril remarks that those who receive the Holy Spirit are, I quote, enlightened in their soul and see things beyond human sight which they previously didn't know. Isn't that interesting?
A third area that's especially associated with the work with the Holy Spirit is the appropriation of salvation and Protestant writers in particular have stressed how the Holy Spirit plays a major role in relation to the establishment of a living relationship between Christ and the believer. And we see this for example in some reformed confessions of faith of the 16th century such as the belgian confession of faith which dates from 1561 and this declares that the Holy Spirit creates in our hearts an upright faith which embraces Jesus Christ with all his merits. And finally the Holy Spirit is understood to play an important role in sustaining the Christian life both individual corporate.
If you like, it animates us. It in effect gives us a new sense of identity and importance. So that's a very brief overview of this chapter on the Holy Spirit. And it lays the ground for the major discussion that follows in the next chapter, which is the doctrine of the Trinity. We've talked about God, we've talked about Christ, talked about the Holy Spirit.
we're now in a position to begin to weave these matters together. So thank you for listening and I look forward to speaking to you again very soon.