The Lord Is the Spirit. John A. Studebaker
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Название: The Lord Is the Spirit

Автор: John A. Studebaker

Издательство: Ingram

Жанр: Религия: прочее

Серия: Evangelical Theological Society Monograph Series

isbn: 9781630876852

isbn:

СКАЧАТЬ target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="#ulink_887973bc-97a9-53d0-bd29-259b84fa418d">210 The Spirit is thereby the one who distributes Christ’s salvation “through the Christian Church and through the forgiveness of sins imparted in the Church.”211 The Spirit incorporates believers into the Church so that one’s private spirituality can find expression in adherence to the Church.212 Since such a view seems to elevate the practices of the Church to a place of paramount importance in the development of the believer’s spirituality, we will need to ask Jones and Buckley whether the Spirit retains “authority” with respect to this development. We shall investigate this further in chapter seven.

      The Governing Authority of the Spirit—Definition and Storyline

      Now that we have observed several contemporary approaches to the Spirit/Church relationship (both theoretical and practical approaches) we are able to examine them in search of a provisional definition of the Spirit’s governing authority, and then pose initial questions for each approach regarding its alignment with the provisional definitions discerned earlier. These questions will be further addressed in chapter three and four as well.

      “Governing authority,” on the other hand, incorporates the authority inherent in one’s own person along with a delegated authority to work or function as “governor” (we might think of a “governor” who is granted the authority to rule locally under the auspices of a President or King). Such a “governing authority” of the Spirit seems to coincide with Oden’s “paleoorthodox” understanding of the doctrine of the Spirit (which generally respects the pattern of authority) while listening to the “postmodern” desire for a renewed focus on the experience of the Spirit within the Church. In this scenario, the body of Christ, having a temporary status until Christ returns with his eschatological Kingdom, is created and administered by the “governing authority” of the Holy Spirit.

      Whereas a “functional power” of the Spirit is not necessarily associated with the other aspects of the Spirit’s authority already discussed, the Spirit’s “governing authority” implies a vital connection to these aspects. If the Spirit’s authority or power is not related to the other elements in our pattern of authority, what will this do to our understanding of the Spirit’s “authority”?

      As a result, initial questions can be asked regarding each of the above-mentioned “whole book” theologies of the Holy Spirit. For instance, in their concern for the experience of the Spirit, have these theologians left behind various aspects of our pattern of authority in the developing their models? What does this do to the notion of the “governing authority of the Spirit”? In particular, we will need to ask:

      1. Does Moltmann’s “panentheism” depreciate the Spirit’s authority as a divine Person?

      2. Does Pinnock’s “universalism” or Hodgson’s “modified trinitarianism” nullify the Spirit’s executorial authority?

      3. Does Welker’s “pluralism” reduce the Spirit’s veracious authority with respect to inspiration, and does Badcock’s attention to spiritual experience reduce the Spirit’s veracious authority with respect to illumination?

      4. Precisely what effects do any deficiencies in Moltmann’s, Hodgson’s, and Welker’s models have on a development of a biblical understanding of the Spirit’s “governing authority”?

      Conclusion

      We have surveyed theological history and uncovered a story that reflects the doctrinal development of the Spirit’s authority within the context of the pattern of authority. We began with a study of the patristic writers and inferred that the Fathers of the early Church recognized the Holy Spirit’s divine authority as a divine Person. We then examined the traumatic debate in medieval theology regarding Filioque and concluded that Augustine’s model seems to grant the Spirit an “executorial authority” to act under the authority of Christ. We studied the Protestant debate regarding the “interpretive authority” of the Spirit and discovered that the reformers did not allow such an authority to be delegated to any human institution. We briefly surveyed the landscape of modern theology and found that evangelicals have affirmed that the “veracious authority” of the Spirit is allied with the inspired text rather that with human reason or experience. Finally, we surveyed several “postmodern” theologians and discovered that “paleoorthodox” theologians point toward the Spirit’s “governing authority” within the Church.