THEO 535 - Doctrine of the Holy Spirit

Teacher

Dr. S. Schumacher

Semester

Fall

Duration

8 Weeks

Frequency

Every three years

Credits

5 ECTS

Workload

125-150 Hours

Module format

Intensive

Applicability

The student will be assisted in establishing his/her own pneumatological outline of a biblical book and in constructing his/her own pneumatological approach, or pneumatology. In a final step, the student will bring the contours of such pneumatology in conversation with contemporary scholarship and ministry, engaging in a pneumatological discussion on the relevance of his/her pneumatology for the present and future.

Course structure

See module and courses

Contact time

35-45 Hours

Self-Study

105-125 Hours

Participation requirement

See access to the program

Evaluation

Evaluation	Hours	Weight
Phase 1	50	20%
Reading assignments	50	20%
Phase 2	40	50%
Participation	30	20%
Two presentations	10	30%
Phase 3	60	30%
Research Paper	60	30%
Total	150	100%

Content of the Module

This course will deal with the doctrine of the Holy Spirit (pneumatology) and will first focus on the history of the treatment of the Spirit from 30 AD until today. A particular focus will then be given to the development of the doctrine of the Spirit among scholarship within the last 150 years before the class directs its attention to the emergence of Pentecostal pneumatology. Here, various past and contemporary pneumatological approaches among early Pentecostals and contemporary Pentecostal scholars will be highlighted and discussed.

Learning Objectives

To discuss the history of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit and to locate specific time periods, changes, and shifts in church history in relation to the establishment of pneumatology.
To analyze and compare various pneumatological approaches within the last 120 years.
Formulate your own pneumatological approach based on a particular book of the Bible.
To demonstrate a basic scriptural understanding of the nature and functions of the Spirit of God.
To appraise contemporary topics and issues regarding pneumatology (i.e. in contemporary ecclesiology) and to evaluate the impact of the current Pentecostal scholarship on contemporary ministry.

Outline

A. Definition of pneumatology
B. Pneumatological discussions and approaches over the last centuries
C. North American Pentecostal movements
D. Pentecostal outline of pneumatology of the Torah
E. Contemporary Pentecostal contexts (1990-today)
F. Constructing a pneumatology based on a particular book of the Old or New Testament
G. Applying pneumatology to contemporary Pentecostal ministry and scholarship.
H. Appraise the characteristics of pneumatology of the particular book chosen and compare and contrast them with the contemporary ecclesiology of Terry Cross.

Examination

See Evaluation

Core Literature

Textbooks:
Terry L. Cross, The People of God’s Presence: An Introduction to Ecclesiology (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2019).
Steffen Schumacher, The Spirit of God in the Torah – A Pentecostal Exploration (PhD thesis; Cleveland, TN: CPT Cleveland, 2021).

Reading List:
Albertz, Rainer, and Claus Westermann, ‘xwr’, in Ernst Jenni and Claus Westermann (eds.), THAT (2 vols.; München: Christian Kaiser Verlag, 1978–1979), vol. 2 (1979), pp. 726-53.
Augustine, Daniela C., Pentecost, Hospitality, and Transfiguration: Toward a Spirit-inspired Vision of Social Transformation (Cleveland, TN: CPT Press, 2012).
Blumhofer, Edith L., ‘Introduction’, in Edith L. Blumhofer, Russell P. Spittler and Grant A. Wacker (eds.), Pentecostal Currents in American Protestantism (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1999), pp. ix-xiii.
Briggs, Charles A., ‘The Use of Ruah in the Old Testament’, JBL 19.2 (1900), pp. 132-45.
Cross, Terry L., The People of God’s Presence: An Introduction to Ecclesiology (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2019).
_____, ‘Toward a Theology of the Word and the Spirit: A Review of J. Rodman Williams’s Renewal Theology’, JPT 3 (1993), pp. 113-35.
Dabney, D. Lyle, Die Kenosis des Geistes: Kontinuität zwischen Schöpfung und Erlösung im Werk des Heiligen Geistes (NBST; Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1997).
Davies, Andrew, ‘Reading in the Spirit: Some Brief Observations on Pentecostal Interpretation and the Ethical Difficulties of the Old Testament’, JBV 30.3 (2009), p. 303-11.
_____, ‘The Spirit of Freedom: Pentecostals, the Bible and Social Justice’, JEPTA 31.1 (2011), pp. 53-64.
Dreytza, Manfred, Der Theologische Gebrauch von Ruah im Alten Testament: Eine Wort- und Satzsemantische Studie (Gießen: Brunnen Verlag, 2nd edn, 1992).
Edwards, Denis, Breath of Life: A Theology of the Creator Spirit (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2004).
Ellington, Scott A., ‘The Sustainer of Life: The Role of the Spirit of God in Creation’, APS 12 (2009), pp. 9-24.
Felix-Jager, Steven, ‘Inspiration and Discernment in Pentecostal Aesthetics’, JPT 23.1 (2014), pp. 85-104.
Fettke, Steven M., ‘The Spirit of God Hovered over the Waters: Creation, the Local Church, and the Mentally and Physically Challenged, a Call to Spirit-Led Ministry’, JPT 17.2 (2008), pp. 170-82.
Gause, R. Hollis, ‘Issues in Pentecostalism’, in Russell P. Spittler (ed.) Perspectives on the New Pentecostalism (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1976), pp. 106-16.
Goldingay, John, ‘Was the Holy Spirit Active in Old Testament Times? What Was New about the Christian Experience of God?’, ExAu 12 (1996), pp. 14-28.
Gunkel, Hermann, Die Wirkungen des Heiligen Geistes nach der populären Anschauung der Apostolischen Zeit und der Lehre des Apostels Paulus: Eine Biblisch-Theologische Studie (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1888).
Hehn, Johannes, ‘Zum Problem des Geistes im Alten Orient und im Alten Testament’, ZAW 43.1 (1925), pp. 210-25.
Hildebrandt, Wilf, An Old Testament Theology of the Spirit of God (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1995).
Hubbard, Jr, Robert L., ‘The Spirit and Creation’, in David G. Firth and Paul D. Wegner (eds.), Presence, Power and Promise: The Role of the Spirit of God in the Old Testament (Nottingham, England: Apollos, 2011), pp. 71-91.
Johns, Jackie David, The Pedagogy of the Holy Spirit according to Early Christian Tradition (Leipzig: Center for Pentecostal Ministries, 2012).
Kärkkäinen, Veli-Matti, ‘Towards a Theology and Ecclesiology of the Spirit: Marquette University’s 1998 Symposium, “An Advent of the Spirit: Orientations in Pneumatology’’’, JPT 14 (1999), pp. 65-80.
Kim, Kirsteen, The Holy Spirit in the Word: A Global Conversation (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2007).
Levison, John R., Filled with the Spirit (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2009).
McMahan, Oliver, ‘Grief Observed: Surprised by the Suffering of the Spirit’, in Steven J. Land, Rick Dale Moore and John Christopher Thomas (eds.), Passover, Pentecost, and Parousia: Studies in Celebration of the Life and Ministry of R. Hollis Gause (JPTSup 35; Dorset, UK: Deo Publishing, 2010), pp. 296-314.
McQueen, Larry R., Joel and the Spirit (Cleveland, TN: CPT Press, 2009).
Miskov, Jennifer A., ‘Coloring Outside the Lines: Pentecostal Parallels with Expressionism. The Work of the Spirit in Place, Time, and Secular Society?’, JPT 19.1 (2010), pp. 94-117.
Mittelstadt, Martin William, The Spirit and Suffering in Luke–Acts: Implications for a Pentecostal Pneumatology (JPTSup 26; London: T & T Clark, 2004).
Moltmann, Jürgen, The Spirit of Life: A Universal Affirmation (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1992).
_____, The Source of Life: The Holy Spirit and the Theology of Life (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1997).
Moore, Rick Dale, The Spirit of the Old Testament (JPTSup 35; Blandford Forum, Dorset, UK: Deo Publishing, 2011).
Moore, Rick Dale, and Brian Neil Peterson, Voice, Word, and Spirit: A Pentecostal Old Testament Survey (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2017).
Müller-Fahrenholz, Geiko, God’s Spirit: Transforming a World in Crisis (New York/Geneva: Continuum/WCC Publications, 1995).
Neve, Lloyd Rudolph, The Spirit of God in the Old Testament (CPTC; Cleveland, TN: CPT Press, 2011).
Payne, J. Barton, ‘xwr’, in R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer, and Bruce K. Waltke (eds.), TWOT (Chicago: Moody Publisher, 1980), pp. 836-37.
Pinnock, Clark H., ‘The Work of the Holy Spirit in Hermeneutics’, JPT 2 (1993), pp. 3-23.
_____, Flame of Love: A Theology of the Holy Spirit (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1996).
Rogers, Eugene F., After the Spirit: A Constructive Pneumatology from Resources Outside the Modern West (RadTrad; Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2005).
Schumacher, Steffen, The Spirit of God in the Torah – A Pentecostal Exploration (PhD thesis; Cleveland, TN: CPT Cleveland, 2021).
Shults, F. LeRon, ‘Spirit and Spirituality: Philosophical Trends in Late Modern Pneumatology’, Pneuma 30.2 (2008), pp. 271-87.
Spittler, Russell P., ‘The Pentecostal View’, in Donald L. Alexander (ed.) Christian Spirituality: Five Views of Sanctification (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1988)
Synan, H. Vinson, Voices of Pentecost: Testimonies of Lives Touched by the Holy Spirit (Ann Arbor, MI: Servant Publications, 2003).
Thomas, John Christopher, ‘Holy Spirit and Interpretation’, in Stanley E. Porter (ed.) DBCI (New York, NY: Routledge, 2007), pp. 165-66.
_____, ‘“Where the Spirit Leads”: The Development of Pentecostal Hermeneutics’, JBV 30.3 (2009), pp. 289-302.
Waddell, Robby C., The Spirit of the Book of Revelation (JPTSup 30; Dorset: Deo Publishing, 2006).
Wallace, Mark I., Fragments of the Spirit: Nature, Violence, and the Renewal of Creation (New York, NY: Continuum, 1996).
Welker, Michael, God the Spirit (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1994).
Westermann, Claus, ‘Geist im Alten Testament’, EvT 41.3 (1981), pp. 223-30.
Wright, Christopher J.H., Knowing the Holy Spirit through the Old Testament (Oxford; Downers Grove, IL: Monarch Books; InterVarsity, 2006).
Wyckoff, John W., Pneuma and Logos: The Role of the Spirit in Biblical Hermeneutics (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2010).
Yong, Amos, ‘Ruach, the Primordial Chaos, and the Breath of Life: Emergence Theory and the Creation Narratives in Pneumatological Perspective’, in Michael Welker (ed.) The Work of the Spirit: Pneumatology and Pentecostalism (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2006), pp. 183204.
_____, ‘Disability and the Gifts of the Spirit: Pentecost and the Renewal of the Church’, JPT 19.1 (2010), pp. 76-93.
_____, The Spirit of Creation: Modern Science and Divine Action in the Pentecostal-Charismatic Imagination (PM; Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2011).

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