Thesis advisor: Roberto Goizueta / This dissertation presents a study in the Christian systematic theology of Robert W. Jenson on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. In doing so, this work seeks to contribute descriptively to Jenson scholarship in the theological academy, to understanding, clarifying and interpreting his role in the contemporary theological scene, while, as itself operating in the discipline of systematic theology, this work also seeks to constructively augment our understanding of the experience of the Holy Spirit in the Church, reckoning with the significance of this theological locus for a number of prominent movements in the current thought and practice of world Christianity. Part I and Part II of this work engage in an exegesis of the content of Jenson’s pneumatology. Here I advance the interpretation that Jenson’s pneumatology can be meaningfully and beneficially coalesced under—without being merely reduced to—the theme of “freedom” or “liberation.” This integrating motif becomes evident as Jenson’s pneumatology is unfolded across a number of other traditional doctrinal loci and interweaved with a number of other ecumenical concerns, examining both the “work” of the Spirit in the world (first part) and the divine “person” of the Spirit (second part). Part III, then, ventures a constructive evaluation and reception of Jenson’s distinctive pneumatological proposals by way of dialectical encounter with three horizons: those of (1) early Christian pneumatology, (2) twentieth century trinitarian theology and (3) liberation theological discourse and praxis. Through this dialectical engagement, I interrogate a number of aspects of Jenson’s divine ontology and theological infrastructure, insofar as they relate to the uniqueness of his pneumatological proposals. With a re-calibration of some of those theological judgments, I argue that certain insights of Jenson’s notion of the Spirit as eternal, personal Freedom in God, as the Unsurpassed One and as the movement of divine self-constitution from the End of Divine Life merit retrieval. This characterization of the person of the Spirit as one of “freedom” or “liberation,” for the believer, for creation, and for God, forges a pneumatological reconstruction of divine transcendence, similarly to what classical theology had done for the persons of the Father and the Son. Such an achievement, I suggest, offers one viable interpretation of the unique role of the Spirit that mediates between traditional-classical trinitarian ontology and the lived experience of the Spirit currently being exhibited, perceived and theorized in various aspects of global theology and leading areas of theological research. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.

The current study seeks to insert African American Pentecostal theologies as a generative subject of examination for scholars of American and African Atlantic religious history and theology. By providing close and critical readings of newly-found sources of African American Pentecostal theology by four significant African American Pentecostal theologians, this study situates African American Pentecostal thought as a distinctive theological trajectory within both African Atlantic Christianity and North American religious thought. The writings of theologians Ozro Thurston Jones, Jr., Ithiel Conrad Clemmons, James Alexander Forbes, Jr., and William Clair Turner, Jr., will be explored to expose the contours of a distinctive African American Pentecostal theology. An examination of the writings of this cohort demonstrates that African American Pentecostal thought is contextual (marked by an openness to and engagement with various Christian and philosophical traditions) and liberationist (deeply committed to a revitalization of Christian witness in the pursuit of social justice). In this comparative analysis of their respective theological programs, with a focus on recurring theological ideas, values, and themes, this study provides a phenomenology of African American Pentecostal theology. Within the field of modern black theology, there has been a call by scholars for more attention to be paid to pneumatology, which has been generally neglected; while within the field of North American Pentecostalism, a glossocentric pneumatology has been the dominant theological framework. The four theologians examined in this study resist both limitations, and in the diversity of their methods and theological perspectives, these scholars participate in a broader, more generous theological enterprise. This project seeks to both unsettle and complexify anew various reductionist readings of African American Pentecostal theologies and to create space for a deepened exchange between the broader traditions of African Atlantic Christian theologies and African American religious thought. The methodologies employed in this study include biographical criticism, phenomenological analysis, and religious ethnography. Biographical criticism underscores the critical importance of social contexts in the formation of black religious consciousness. Phenomenological analysis allows for an examination of African American Pentecostalism as its own distinctive religious phenomenon. And critical religious ethnography is employed to assess the reception and impact of each theologian’s overall theological production. Given the growth and theological maturation of Pentecostalism, and the social, cultural and ecumenical impact it has exerted worldwide, this dissertation examines what the theology of the African American Pentecostal movement has contributed to contemporary Christian thought amidst the shifting theological contours of World Christianity and North American religious thought.

This essay aims to investigate the role of fate in the Apocryphon of John – an issue which, with a few exceptions, has been surprisingly overlooked by modern scholarship. In the few modern publications available on the subject, the concept of fate has previously solely been examined in the light of the Greek Philosophical schools, often neglecting texts from a Jewish-Hellenistic context.  Here it is argued that the depiction of fate in the Apocryphon of John, as well as the dualism between Pronoia – the providence of god – and its negative counterpart, the imitating spirit, is closely related to Jewish speculations about external influence and free will in literature such as the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs and the Community Rule from the Dead Sea Scrolls. Furthermore, it is argued that the author – much like Philo of Alexandria - presents Pronoia – the providence of god - as an extension of God, a concept which preserves his transcendence and at the same time allows him to intervene in earthly activities. Similarly, the imitating spirit, which is also presented as identical to fate, works as an extension of the demiurge. As a result of this reading of the text, the dualism between God’s providential activities carried out by Pronoia and the influence of fate over mankind, carried out by the imitating spirit, becomes more evident and radical. It has recently been argued that the discourse of enslavement under fate only was applied to “the other” and that it was used primarily to draw boundary demarcations between the own group and the ones outside it. In this essay, I go against this hypothesis and suggest that the threat of enslavement under fate primarily appears in conjunction with paraenetic discourse and is used to exhort the followers to emulate a certain behavior.

Could a work of revelation justify itself today as a viable theological project? The question is imperative especially when sceptics have questioned the validity of revelation as a doctrinal discipline. Colin Gunton traces the modern difficulty with revelation to the influence of Hegel in giving rise to immediacy, and suggests that attention should be given to mediation. It is in this light we argue that the distinctiveness of Thomas F. Torrance’s theology of revelation and mediation is able to contribute significantly to the debate and bring a fresh breeze to the theological landscape laden with a sense of revelation-weariness. Principally we are making two claims. First, divine self-disclosure in Torrance’s theological scheme instead of immediacy is the mediation of God in Jesus Christ. It is through the Mediator who bridges between God and humanity that the self-revelation of God is finally and fully mediated, and the normative pattern of the union and communion of divine and human action of revelation and mediation is set. We would argue that dualism is, to Torrance, the threat to Christ’s revelation and mediation, and the way of surmounting is to return to the scientific realism of understanding God appropriately in accordance with the compulsive nature of his self-disclosure. Our discussion of Torrance’s pneumatology and multiple mediations involves the second claim. Notwithstanding the intent to uphold the primacy of scriptural mediation, we argue that Torrance, in responding to dualistic peril, has made the unusual move to advocate the effacement of scripture in revelation. Such move is unjustifiable as it has adverse repercussion not only for the mediation of scripture, but other media of revelation as well. The move has subtly gravitated revelation from mediation to immediacy and subverted Torrance’s theological framework. What is required of Torrance to overcome the dualistic tension, as we claim in the discussion of the church, Word and sacraments, and contingent creation as media of revelation, is to remain in line with the normative pattern of revelation and mediation which he has built upon the foundation of the Mediator. Essentially revelation in Torrance’s scheme is the mediation of God’s self-disclosure in Christ, and the continuous unfolding of that revelation by the conjoint work of the divine and the human through multiple mediations in human history. Finally, we would engage Paul Tillich and Colin Gunton in providing Torrance with alternatives that affirm the validity of scriptural mediation.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T14:27:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Atta Amichia Achille.pdf: 952526 bytes, checksum: d95d2ef7e8ca3da26186cbc7f6614447 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-05-16 / This research work aims to highlight the importance of the Holy Spirit - Pneumatology in the Church's mission in the nowadays world. However it is necessary to understand the pneumatological theology of the UCKG and check under an objective basis, its asserts, in which its growth is attributed to the action of the Holy Spirit, as its founder said. In this sense, the expansion capacity of this church is a challenge not only to the Catholic Church its worship and church practice, but especially to the theological intelligence. Therefore, it is urgent to understand the reasons for such pneumatological expansion of the UCKG. This study is divided into four chapters. The first deals with the biblical foundation of the action of the Holy Spirit in the Church. The second is about to the enumeration of some points of dogmatic development and a few lines of theological reflection about the Church's tradition of the Holy Spirit. The third deals with the phenomenology of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG). The fourth shows some opinions proposed as contribution to a missionary church, prophetic for the third millennium with a simple message, deep, comprehensive and better adapted to new settings of the world today. Finally, it is believed that if the Church is conceived from a praying group of people, place of the outbreak of the Holy Spirit to humanity and the world, from the origins of the biological, socio-political-cultural of the baptized people, it can establish the Kingdom of God in people's lives and the world, it can, under the impulse of the Holy Spirit's action in its protection meet the expectations of men and women, in their context. Thus the Church becomes different from the UCKG, becomes a truly prophetic and missionary church led and animated by the Holy Spirit / Esse trabalho de pesquisa tem por objetivo destacar a importância do Espírito Santo pneumatologia na missão da Igreja no mundo de hoje. Por outro lado, faz-se necessário compreender a teologia pneumatológica da IURD e verificar, sob uma base objetiva, suas afirmações, segundo as quais, seu crescimento atribui-se à ação do Espírito Santo, como disse seu fundador. Nesse sentido, a capacidade de expansão dessa Igreja é um desafio não somente à Igreja Católica, a sua prática eclesial e cultual, mas, sobretudo à inteligência teológica. É então, urgente compreender as razões pneumatológicas de tal expansão da IURD. O estudo em questão se divide em quatro capítulos. O primeiro trata da fundamentação bíblica da ação do Espírito Santo na Igreja. O segundo é dedicado à enumeração de alguns pontos do desenvolvimento dogmático e de algumas linhas de reflexão teológica da tradição eclesial a respeito do Espírito Santo. O terceiro aborda a pneumatologia da Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus (IURD). O quarto apresenta alguns pareceres propostos como uma contribuição a uma Igreja missionária, profética para o terceiro milênio com uma mensagem simples, profunda, compreensiva e mais adaptada às novas configurações do mundo de hoje. Por fim, acredita-se que, se a se a Igreja se concebe a partir de um grupo de pessoas em oração, lugar do surgimento do Espírito Santo aos homens e ao mundo; de enraizamento biológico, sócio-político-cultural dos batizados, ela pode instaurar o Reino de Deus na vida das pessoas e do mundo; ela pode, sob o impulso da ação do Espírito Santo em seu seio, atingir as expectativas dos homens e das mulheres, no seu contexto. Assim, a Igreja se torna, diferente da IURD, uma Igreja verdadeiramente profética e missionária conduzida e animada pelo Espírito Santo

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2016-08-23T12:17:46Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Alexandre Baylão.pdf: 967041 bytes, checksum: 21039e0c90884159c947110b8da78216 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-23T12:17:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Alexandre Baylão.pdf: 967041 bytes, checksum: 21039e0c90884159c947110b8da78216 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-22 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The pneumatology in the thought of Yves Congar is reflected and produced under the essential test of experience and communion. Through the God’s experience that humanity has developed its theological reflection and sensed the nuances of self-revelation of God to all his work created and could discern what paths to be followed in relation to God, the cosmos and the human being. It was by the God’s experience that humanity approached the sacred and had communion with him. It could recognize God in its divine persons and worship him through Church sprouted of the decisive event of the Incarnation of the Word and his resurrection, from which it was given to mankind the grace of the Holy Spirit. But it was already present with mankind since the creation of the lines of the story. The Holy Spirit is the love of God manifested as mother love, protects, nurtures, corrects, unites and strengthens with his gifts and charisms. He is one for which, in the exercise of his mission, Christ and the kingdom of God come into the world. Mission is fulfilled in and through the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ, being the Holy Spirit its foundation of communion, catholicity and holiness. The Holy Spirit was present in history, of humanity and of the Church in its great moments of transformation, conduting and inspiring his footsteps. However, the experience lacks interpretation, and in the historical process the communion was, sometimes, undone, and the Holy Spirit was also praised by some and forgotten by others, in this case the Church of Christ, was closed to the Holy Spirit. In the second Vatican Council happened the latest historical re-opening of the Church to the Holy Spirit. Overcoming hierarchism in it installed, says Congar / A pneumatologia no pensamento de Yves Congar é refletida e produzida sob o crivo indispensável da experiência e da comunhão. Através da experiência de Deus que a humanidade elaborou sua reflexão teológica e intuiu os nuances da auto-revelação de Deus a toda sua obra criada e pôde discernir quais os caminhos a serem seguidos na relação com Deus, com o cosmo e com o ser humano. Foi pela experiência de Deus que a humanidade aproximou-se do sagrado e teve comunhão com ele. Pôde reconhecer Deus em suas Pessoas Divinas e prestar culto a ele através da Igreja brotada do evento decisivo da Encarnação do Verbo e sua ressurreição, de onde foi dada à humanidade a graça do Espírito Santo. Mas ele já estava presente com a humanidade desde a criação nas entrelinhas da história. O Espírito Santo é o amor de Deus que se manifesta como amor de mãe, protege, nutre, corrige, une e fortalece com seus dons e carismas. Ele é aquele pelo qual, no exercício de sua missão, Cristo e o Reino de Deus chegam ao mundo. Missão que se cumpre na e pela Igreja, Corpo Místico de Cristo, sendo o Espírito Santo seu fundamento de comunhão, catolicidade e santidade. O Espírito Santo esteve presente na história, da humanidade e da Igreja, em seus grandes momentos de transformação, conduzindo e inspirando seus passos. Entretanto, a experiência carece de interpretação, e no processo histórico a comunhão foi por vezes desfeita, e o Espírito Santo foi exaltado por uns e também esquecido por outros, nestes casos a Igreja de Cristo, se fechou ao Espírito Santo. No Concílio Vaticano II houve a mais recente reabertura histórica da Igreja ao Espírito Santo. Superando o hierarquismo nela instalado, afirma Congar. Aberta ao Espírito Santo e sob sua inspiração, a Igreja pôde dar mais e novos frutos de diálogo, comunhão e santidade que favorecem o cumprimento de sua missão como Igreja evangelizadora e profética no mundo

Evangelische Missionswerk in Deutschland / A teologia formal e reflexiva foi alvo de rejeição no início do pentecostalismo, por este apresentar uma cultura anti-intelectualista e de religiosidade experiencial. Ela era construída prioritariamente de forma oral e narrativa. Na medida em que o pentecostalismo foi crescendo e tomando forma no Brasil, com a adesão de elementos mais ilustrados da sociedade, começou a se dar abertura a uma reflexão teológica mais racional e elaborada. No entanto, os pressupostos iniciais de rejeição continuaram latentes, ainda que de forma velada e subjetiva, dificultando importantes avanços teológicos, especialmente em se tratando das Assembleias de Deus. Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo esclarecer, através de uma perspectiva histórica que leva a aportes sociológicos e teológicos, os avanços e retrocessos que a educação teológica empreendeu nas Assembleias de Deus no Brasil, detalhando discussões entre apoiadores e reprovadores da educação teológica, abordando a elaboração de currículos e as disputas de poder entre suecos, brasileiros e norte-americanos pela educação teológica, os empreendimentos de fundação de Institutos Bíblicos e cursos teológicos por extensão e a expansão da teologia até serem abertos os cursos reconhecidos pelo MEC, que atualmente são apoiados por algumas Assembleias de Deus no Brasil. Intenta-se explicar por que os pentecostalismos preferem teologias de caráter mais devocional e experiencial em detrimento de teologias mais reflexivas e críticas, levando em conta a ênfase dada à teologia mais de caráter pneumatológico. Para tal, demonstra-se a importância do fenômeno de êxtase através do batismo no Espírito Santo e todas as manifestações experienciais deste segmento religioso, além de propor um método teológico que tenta conciliar o legado teológico pentecostal com teologias acadêmicas e reflexivas na tentativa de traçar um possível caminho para a teologia pentecostal que ainda está em desenvolvimento. / The formal reflective theology was a rejection target in the beginning of Pentecostalism since it presented an anti-intellectualist culture and of experiential religiosity. It was built primarily in oral and narrative form. As Pentecostalism was growing and taking shape in Brazil, with the adherence of more illustrious elements of society, it began to give opening to a more rational and elaborated theological reflection. However, the initial rejection assumptions continued latent, albeit in covert and subjective form making important theological advances difficult, especially in regards to the Assemblies of God. This research aims to clarify through historical research which leads to sociological and theological contributions, the advances and retreats that theological education undertook in the Assemblies of God in Brazil, detailing discussions between supporters and disapprovers of theological education, approaching the elaboration of curriculums and the dispute among Swedish, Brazilians and North-Americans for the theological education, the foundation enterprises of biblical institutions and theological courses by extension and expansion of theology until courses recognized by MEC were opened, which nowadays are supported by some Assemblies of God in Brazil. It tries to explain why Pentecostalisms prefer theologies with a more devotional and experiential character in detriment of more reflective and critical theologies, taking in consideration the emphasis given to theology of pneumatological character. For such, the importance of the ecstasy phenomenon through the baptism in the Holy Spirit and all the experiential manifestations of this religious segment is demonstrated and proposes a theological method that tries to reconcile the Pentecostal theological legacy with academic and reflective theologies in an attempt to draw a possible path for the Pentecostal theology that is still in development.

1 Abstract The thesis tries to evaluate the contribution of Didymus of Alexandria in the field of pneumatology and situate it in the context of theology of his contemporaries and the Alexandrian tradition. Pneumatology is one of the main themes of Didymus, but the only existing treatise, which is directly dedicated to this theme and we are sure of his authorship, is On the Holy Spirit, This treatise, possibly the historicaly first of its kind, thus represents the the focus of this thesis. It has been preserved only in Latin translation of Jerome which renders the Greek text and Didymus' original teachings complicated to fully recover. The first part of the thesis is dedicated to Didymus life and work. It presents his formation, studies, methods of teaching in the framework of Alexandrian catechetist school, theological and exegetical activities, his ascetic attitude to life, and his condemnation after his death in the framework of anti-origenist struggle. Then the Didymus writings are then devided into dogmatic and exegetical works, the latter of which was enriched by the finds of codexes in Egyptian Tura in 1941. The discovered works became new impulse to the study Didymus' teachings and methods. The second part of the thesis then deals with triadological disputes during the 4th century, with a stress on...

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<p>This thesis comprises the first full-length study of Gregory of Nazianzus's theology of the Holy Spirit. Gregory was a major political and intellectual figure during the pneumatological controversies of the late Fourth Century. Gregory is the first author whose works are extant to declare that “the Holy Spirit is God” in so many words. He advocated, against leading figures including Basil of Caesarea, that such a declaration should be made by the Church, but largely met with failure in his lifetime. Yet, Gregory's affirmation of the Spirit's divinity was eventually to be embraced by nearly all Christians, and it remains so today. Despite these facts, Gregory is usually treated by historians as a minor influence on Fourth Century pneumatology. This thesis will not necessarily challenge this assessment, but will seek to establish a fuller understanding of how Gregory's pneumatology functions in itself such that his historical place can be reassessed in the future.</p> <p>Our key observation is that Gregory's pneumatology is rooted in his understanding of the Spirit's relationship to the Church. A discussion of Gregory's ecclesiological pneumatology comprises Part I. Having presented Gregory's understanding of the Spirit's relationship to the Church, and his understanding of his own place within this relationship, we explore, in Part II, some of the texts in which Gregory argues for his pneumatological doctrine in the face of various opponents. We note that Gregory remains consistently concerned with ecclesiology when engaging other thinkers on the Spirit. We conclude that when Gregory's ecclesiological pneumatology is accounted for, his reactions to the pneumatological controversies of his day appear as consistent, pastorally motivated responses to concerns about the Church's relationship to the Holy Spirit and the preaching of pneumatological truth which Gregory thought this relationship demanded.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)