<p> This thesis asserts an eschatological perspective that the end of days will come not in apocalyptic destruction, but in transformation. With this theological foundation in view, this thesis draws a deep spiritual purpose in our working lives. This spiritual purpose is God's summons to us to dedicate our vocations to service to the kingdom, now and in preparation for the new creation. This spiritual orientation is the grounding for a critical understanding of a lifetime of work wherein we will strive unceasingly to reflect the image of Christ in our methods and in our demeanour in the workplace. We seek personal sanctification as we respond to God's vocational summons to us.</p> <p> This thesis draws a theology of work, founded in the eschatological dimension of transformatio mundi. Work, while often challenging, is not our punishment for Adam's sin. Work is the expression of our essential being. Work is our loving response, in the deepest ethical way, to God's creation. Indeed, this thesis presents the perspective that our daily work is far more than personal and societal economic growth and security. Indeed, this thesis argues that our daily work is more than self-actualization. This thesis asserts that, when it is inspired and equipped by God through the Holy Spirit, our daily labours are not only pleasing to God, but they hold a significant and important eschatological purpose. This thesis asserts the centrality of our work as stewardship of God's resources, and therefore is of critical importance to the pastoral activities of the church.</p> / Thesis / Master of Theological Studies (MTS)

<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)

The content of this dissertation delineates the crucial and incisive role of the Holy Spirit in terms of God's grand and majestic acts of creation, that is the creation of the multiversity of universes, redemption that is the cross, the exemplar of Christ in self­ denial, reconciliation and restoration, and his resurrection, that is self-empowerment, self-renewal and self-fulfillment observed within the context of God, being human and the physical organic environment as it interacts with the human acts of personal and social responsibility observed within the context of a five dimensional approach of self-actualization, self-denial, self-empowerment, self-renewal and self-fulfillment, ingested into ones identity, internalised and witnessed as meaningful daily praxis, seen through the prism of the cross and the resurrection. A didactic method has been followed to engender insights into and conviction regarding the relevance of the subject for our present day and a hortatory method to exhort to an obedient response and to urge an appropriate action. / Systematic Theology and Theological Ethics / M. Th. (Systematic Theology)

The heart of Pentecostal practice has always been an experience of the Holy Spirit. These experiences are often claimed to have the direct guidance of the Spirit and form the decisions and actions that result in the ongoing of the development of practices and doctrine. It is my contention that the third and fourth so-called waves of the Spirit are not truly waves of the Spirit, neither are they new. They are the rebirth, albeit in a new manner, of three disappointing and tragic movements of past Pentecostal history, namely the (New) Latter Rain, the Shepherding Movement, and the Prosperity Movement. I maintain that these two waves do not follow a solid Pentecostal doctrinal stand of an experience in the Holy Spirit of separability and subsequence, neither do they draw their doctrinal stand from the book of Acts, but rather the Synoptic gospels. Unfortunately, even though Pentecostal scholarship is on the rise, the majority of the prolific writers of these last two waves are extremely eisegetical in regards to their dealing with the Word of God. They claim vision and direction from Heaven, as opposed to an exegesis of the canon of Scripture. I maintain that these two, so called waves of the Spirit are not Heaven sent but man conceived and thus dangerous heresy to the church. `I believe that courage is the most important virtue, the foundation that underlies and gives realty to all other virtues and personal values. Without courage we become conformists. Conformity is not the fibre good and courageous leaders are made of… Do not be frightened by the aloneness that may come with your holding unpopular positions. It is in aloneness that wisdom will visit you and smile upon you'. These are not, as a theologian might be entitled to expect, the words of Elijah or Jeremiah. They are quoted from a speech given in 1999 by Mamphela Ramphele, vice chancellor of the University of Cape Town. Her context was the silence that has so often fallen on African societies once liberation has taken place. It is just such silent acquiescence, she insists, that allow former `heroes of the struggle' to become despots and dictators. Her words are challenging to Pentecostal theologians for at least two reasons. The first and more mundane is that Pentecostalism is most vibrant today in precisely those countries, which can be termed `postcolonial'. The second, and to my mind the most relevant to the movement, is that Pentecostalism was at its beginning a powerful spiritual force because it inherited an ethos of radical difference and because its proponents were unflinching in refusing to be co-opted into any other agenda than the one for which they knew they had been empowered by the Spirit of Jesus Christ. In this sense it was a prophetic religion, a religion similar to that of Elijah and Jeremiah. It is my plea then in this presentation that the so-called `postcolonial' countries will not swallow this new error, which has been called the new Pentecostal rhema from Heaven, which stems, as do so many new theological trends from the Western world. The new emerging Pentecostal Charismatic churches, particularly of the Third World need to have the courage not to be conformists, for such is not the fiber good and courageous leaders have. The hermeneutical pneumatology of the Pentecostal tradition has always been questioned. The early Pentecostals did not even bother to develop a theological hermeneutical position of a subsequent experience of the Spirit; they accepted their experience as from God . When they did begin to develop a Pentecostal theology it was often ridiculed as being primarily experiential, thus in the minds of most, devoid of Biblical theology. Fifty years after the outpouring of the Spirit at Azusa Street many Pentecostal scholars began to re-examine the pneumatology of Luke's writing. In the latter part of the 20th Century many Pentecostal scholars came into their own, examining and challenging many of the previously accepted conclusions of theologians, in regards to the Classical Pentecostal doctrinal position . Their position was that there was a separable and subsequent experience of the Spirit following salvation, which was accompanied by the initial evidence of speaking with other tongues. The initial evidence was for a few, and still is for some, questionable evidence. Such a position stood in opposition to those who declared that there was no second experience of the Holy Spirit for any person other than salvation. If those who believed in the `conversion-initiation, which included the baptism in the Holy Spirit' were indeed correct, then everything that Luke talks about in relation to pneumatology in his two-volume work is totally in relation to salvation. This was the theological pneumatological position prior to Classical Pentecostalism. It did and has resulted in many theological challenges. Scholars who take this position do so on the premise that Pentecost is more of a historical situation for the church. However scholars convinced of the Classical Pentecostal position are refusing to accept this position and have and are continuing to develop an exegetical position for a secondary work of the Holy Spirit in a person's life. This is my personal position made vitally real for me since I did not grow up in a Pentecostal church setting, but rather came into the Pentecostal experience in my early 20's. It is my contention that the theological impact of Christ's ascension prior to the public ascension witnessed in Acts 1 has not been fully examined. Few scholars have dealt with the typological fulfillment firstly, of the work of the High Priest as seen completed in the life of Jesus Christ, or secondly, of His fulfillment of the first four feasts which the Jews were commanded to keep. Both of these aspects very clearly enhance and form a clear indication that the classical Pentecostal theology was and is correct in speaking of a separable and subsequent work of the Spirit following a clear salvation experience. I will seek to elucidate this by an examining the historical background of the first two waves of the Spirit, followed by a preview of the work of the Holy Spirit as seen in the canon of Scripture with emphasis on the New Testament. I will follow this by the development of the idea of regeneration in the New Testament. Finally I will examine Lukan writing in regards to the experience known as the baptism of the Holy Spirit. These chapters will then serve as a base for comparison with the material, which will follow. In the late 20th and early 21st century the Classical Pentecostal doctrine has been challenged by the last two charismatic waves of the Spirit, both of which have spawned a plethora of writings. It is my contention first; that the traditional Pentecostal understanding of the authority of Scripture has been abandoned in that now experience takes precedence over Scripture. Secondly it is clear that these last two waves do not fall within the same parameters as the first two waves in their understanding of a doctrine of separability and subsequence, since they revert to a pre-Classical Pentecostal theological position of only one experience of the Holy Spirit. Thirdly, in a day when Pentecostal scholarship is seeking to become acceptable in their exegesis, the authors of these waves are almost totally eisegetical. The question needs to be asked `Have they subtly taken on a title to glean a following?' It is thus my contention that a survey of these waves shows that they have no common ground with the initial two waves of the Spirit. The indication is that they have deliberately chosen a different Biblical basis and thus disqualify themselves from the Pentecostal Charismatic stream. I will seek to elucidate this by examining the historical background of the last two waves of the Spirit, followed by an examination of the Pentecostal hermeneutic and their lack of hermeneutics, as seen so clearly in their writings. This will be done by pointing out the comparisons to the latter two waves of the Spirit both in theory and in the voluminous writing, which are largely based on eisegesis. The stated desire to `have church without making anyone sick' has broached and taken the movements far into left field. Finally, it is my contention that the third and fourth waves of the Spirit are not new at all. They are simply a rebirth of three disappointing and tragic movements in Pentecostal history. Thus I hope to clearly substantiate that the third and fourth wave of the Spirit are not really waves of the Spirit at all. They are not such in terms of their Biblical theological basis, neither are they such exegetically. They are simply the result of those desirous of the moving of the Holy Spirit who have reached back into the past and reintroduced past aspects of renewal, which unfortunately were man centered and resulted later in much havoc among Christians. I will seek to elucidate these facts by an examination of the history and practice of the (New) Latter Rain, which still haunts Saskatchewan, Canada where tragedies still exist, and the Shepherding movement out of Florida, which after a few years was denounced even by the leaders and finally totally disbanded. Then, finally the Prosperity Movement, which rose and fell as an unacceptable, illegitimate deduction of so called truth of the canon. One hopes and prays that the tragedies in lives will not live to haunt the church if Jesus tarries. We do not want the "heroes of spiritual struggles" to become the despots and dictators of the Pentecostal churches in the Third World. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D.Th. (Church History)

This study is about the identity of Coloured Pentecostals living in Retreat, Western Cape. It concerns the effects which social change has upon boundary markers and worldview. It uses Robert Schreiter's semiotic approach to culture. Schreiter says that social change along with boundary markers and worldview are the basis for changing identities. This study applies Schreiter's approach to a case study to see if it will work. The study considers the traditional Coloured Pentecostal Culture's identity represented by the older generation of Pentecostals in Retreat. It then considers some responses to those traditional boundary markers and worldview given primarily by the younger generation of Pentecostals. It then suggests some possible solutions to the problems which have been identified as the reasons for the changing cultural and religious identity of the Coloured Pentecostal Culture . / Missiology / M.Th. (Missiology)

The heart of Pentecostal practice has always been an experience of the Holy Spirit. These experiences are often claimed to have the direct guidance of the Spirit and form the decisions and actions that result in the ongoing of the development of practices and doctrine. It is my contention that the third and fourth so-called waves of the Spirit are not truly waves of the Spirit, neither are they new. They are the rebirth, albeit in a new manner, of three disappointing and tragic movements of past Pentecostal history, namely the (New) Latter Rain, the Shepherding Movement, and the Prosperity Movement. I maintain that these two waves do not follow a solid Pentecostal doctrinal stand of an experience in the Holy Spirit of separability and subsequence, neither do they draw their doctrinal stand from the book of Acts, but rather the Synoptic gospels. Unfortunately, even though Pentecostal scholarship is on the rise, the majority of the prolific writers of these last two waves are extremely eisegetical in regards to their dealing with the Word of God. They claim vision and direction from Heaven, as opposed to an exegesis of the canon of Scripture. I maintain that these two, so called waves of the Spirit are not Heaven sent but man conceived and thus dangerous heresy to the church. `I believe that courage is the most important virtue, the foundation that underlies and gives realty to all other virtues and personal values. Without courage we become conformists. Conformity is not the fibre good and courageous leaders are made of… Do not be frightened by the aloneness that may come with your holding unpopular positions. It is in aloneness that wisdom will visit you and smile upon you'. These are not, as a theologian might be entitled to expect, the words of Elijah or Jeremiah. They are quoted from a speech given in 1999 by Mamphela Ramphele, vice chancellor of the University of Cape Town. Her context was the silence that has so often fallen on African societies once liberation has taken place. It is just such silent acquiescence, she insists, that allow former `heroes of the struggle' to become despots and dictators. Her words are challenging to Pentecostal theologians for at least two reasons. The first and more mundane is that Pentecostalism is most vibrant today in precisely those countries, which can be termed `postcolonial'. The second, and to my mind the most relevant to the movement, is that Pentecostalism was at its beginning a powerful spiritual force because it inherited an ethos of radical difference and because its proponents were unflinching in refusing to be co-opted into any other agenda than the one for which they knew they had been empowered by the Spirit of Jesus Christ. In this sense it was a prophetic religion, a religion similar to that of Elijah and Jeremiah. It is my plea then in this presentation that the so-called `postcolonial' countries will not swallow this new error, which has been called the new Pentecostal rhema from Heaven, which stems, as do so many new theological trends from the Western world. The new emerging Pentecostal Charismatic churches, particularly of the Third World need to have the courage not to be conformists, for such is not the fiber good and courageous leaders have. The hermeneutical pneumatology of the Pentecostal tradition has always been questioned. The early Pentecostals did not even bother to develop a theological hermeneutical position of a subsequent experience of the Spirit; they accepted their experience as from God . When they did begin to develop a Pentecostal theology it was often ridiculed as being primarily experiential, thus in the minds of most, devoid of Biblical theology. Fifty years after the outpouring of the Spirit at Azusa Street many Pentecostal scholars began to re-examine the pneumatology of Luke's writing. In the latter part of the 20th Century many Pentecostal scholars came into their own, examining and challenging many of the previously accepted conclusions of theologians, in regards to the Classical Pentecostal doctrinal position . Their position was that there was a separable and subsequent experience of the Spirit following salvation, which was accompanied by the initial evidence of speaking with other tongues. The initial evidence was for a few, and still is for some, questionable evidence. Such a position stood in opposition to those who declared that there was no second experience of the Holy Spirit for any person other than salvation. If those who believed in the `conversion-initiation, which included the baptism in the Holy Spirit' were indeed correct, then everything that Luke talks about in relation to pneumatology in his two-volume work is totally in relation to salvation. This was the theological pneumatological position prior to Classical Pentecostalism. It did and has resulted in many theological challenges. Scholars who take this position do so on the premise that Pentecost is more of a historical situation for the church. However scholars convinced of the Classical Pentecostal position are refusing to accept this position and have and are continuing to develop an exegetical position for a secondary work of the Holy Spirit in a person's life. This is my personal position made vitally real for me since I did not grow up in a Pentecostal church setting, but rather came into the Pentecostal experience in my early 20's. It is my contention that the theological impact of Christ's ascension prior to the public ascension witnessed in Acts 1 has not been fully examined. Few scholars have dealt with the typological fulfillment firstly, of the work of the High Priest as seen completed in the life of Jesus Christ, or secondly, of His fulfillment of the first four feasts which the Jews were commanded to keep. Both of these aspects very clearly enhance and form a clear indication that the classical Pentecostal theology was and is correct in speaking of a separable and subsequent work of the Spirit following a clear salvation experience. I will seek to elucidate this by an examining the historical background of the first two waves of the Spirit, followed by a preview of the work of the Holy Spirit as seen in the canon of Scripture with emphasis on the New Testament. I will follow this by the development of the idea of regeneration in the New Testament. Finally I will examine Lukan writing in regards to the experience known as the baptism of the Holy Spirit. These chapters will then serve as a base for comparison with the material, which will follow. In the late 20th and early 21st century the Classical Pentecostal doctrine has been challenged by the last two charismatic waves of the Spirit, both of which have spawned a plethora of writings. It is my contention first; that the traditional Pentecostal understanding of the authority of Scripture has been abandoned in that now experience takes precedence over Scripture. Secondly it is clear that these last two waves do not fall within the same parameters as the first two waves in their understanding of a doctrine of separability and subsequence, since they revert to a pre-Classical Pentecostal theological position of only one experience of the Holy Spirit. Thirdly, in a day when Pentecostal scholarship is seeking to become acceptable in their exegesis, the authors of these waves are almost totally eisegetical. The question needs to be asked `Have they subtly taken on a title to glean a following?' It is thus my contention that a survey of these waves shows that they have no common ground with the initial two waves of the Spirit. The indication is that they have deliberately chosen a different Biblical basis and thus disqualify themselves from the Pentecostal Charismatic stream. I will seek to elucidate this by examining the historical background of the last two waves of the Spirit, followed by an examination of the Pentecostal hermeneutic and their lack of hermeneutics, as seen so clearly in their writings. This will be done by pointing out the comparisons to the latter two waves of the Spirit both in theory and in the voluminous writing, which are largely based on eisegesis. The stated desire to `have church without making anyone sick' has broached and taken the movements far into left field. Finally, it is my contention that the third and fourth waves of the Spirit are not new at all. They are simply a rebirth of three disappointing and tragic movements in Pentecostal history. Thus I hope to clearly substantiate that the third and fourth wave of the Spirit are not really waves of the Spirit at all. They are not such in terms of their Biblical theological basis, neither are they such exegetically. They are simply the result of those desirous of the moving of the Holy Spirit who have reached back into the past and reintroduced past aspects of renewal, which unfortunately were man centered and resulted later in much havoc among Christians. I will seek to elucidate these facts by an examination of the history and practice of the (New) Latter Rain, which still haunts Saskatchewan, Canada where tragedies still exist, and the Shepherding movement out of Florida, which after a few years was denounced even by the leaders and finally totally disbanded. Then, finally the Prosperity Movement, which rose and fell as an unacceptable, illegitimate deduction of so called truth of the canon. One hopes and prays that the tragedies in lives will not live to haunt the church if Jesus tarries. We do not want the "heroes of spiritual struggles" to become the despots and dictators of the Pentecostal churches in the Third World. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D.Th. (Church History)

The content of this dissertation delineates the crucial and incisive role of the Holy Spirit in terms of God's grand and majestic acts of creation, that is the creation of the multiversity of universes, redemption that is the cross, the exemplar of Christ in self­ denial, reconciliation and restoration, and his resurrection, that is self-empowerment, self-renewal and self-fulfillment observed within the context of God, being human and the physical organic environment as it interacts with the human acts of personal and social responsibility observed within the context of a five dimensional approach of self-actualization, self-denial, self-empowerment, self-renewal and self-fulfillment, ingested into ones identity, internalised and witnessed as meaningful daily praxis, seen through the prism of the cross and the resurrection. A didactic method has been followed to engender insights into and conviction regarding the relevance of the subject for our present day and a hortatory method to exhort to an obedient response and to urge an appropriate action. / Systematic Theology and Theological Ethics / M. Th. (Systematic Theology)

This study is about the identity of Coloured Pentecostals living in Retreat, Western Cape. It concerns the effects which social change has upon boundary markers and worldview. It uses Robert Schreiter's semiotic approach to culture. Schreiter says that social change along with boundary markers and worldview are the basis for changing identities. This study applies Schreiter's approach to a case study to see if it will work. The study considers the traditional Coloured Pentecostal Culture's identity represented by the older generation of Pentecostals in Retreat. It then considers some responses to those traditional boundary markers and worldview given primarily by the younger generation of Pentecostals. It then suggests some possible solutions to the problems which have been identified as the reasons for the changing cultural and religious identity of the Coloured Pentecostal Culture . / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M.Th. (Missiology)

The Evangelical movement is a significant Christian movement in the life of the Zambian Nation and it is to this movement that the Pentecostal/Charismatic movement belongs. Undoubtedly this movement has become to be a vital player in enhancing the voice of hope and change that Evangelicals have trumpeted in the past twenty years. Emerging in the shadows of formidable established Christian movements such as the Evangelical fellowship of Zambia and Christian Council of Zambia, the movement is yet to consolidate itself as one of the influencing groups within the Evangelical movement. For this to happen, they has to be realization of the potential there is to become an agent of change in the Nation. In order to attain this, the movement needs introspection in their perception and involvement in socio-economic development and theological response to matters which affect communities they serve. This work endeavors to high light historical factors which have contributed to the development and growth of the Pentecostal/Charismatic movement in Zambia. Roles and contributions of the movement towards the Evangelical movement as well us short comings. / Christian Spirituality, Church History & Missiology / M. Th. (Missiology)

Thesis (MTh (Practical Theology and Missiology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / This study is an attempt to gain an understanding of the al-ruh (Holy Spirit) from a Muslim perspective and a comparison with the Christian perspective. Chapter 1 is an introduction. Chapter 2 and 3 are textual study; the meaning and usage of the al-ruh (Holy Spirit) in the Qur’an will be examined, especially in Muslim Dictionaries, Encyclopaedias and Commentaries as compared with the meaning and usage in the Biblical and Jewish scriptures. Obviously, the Holy Spirit plays an active role with humankind in creation and in revelation; the al-ruh has evidently inspired all the prophets and even believers according to the Qur’an. The experience of Muhammad with respect to the al-ruh is also mentioned in the Qur’an even when he was not yet aware of the work of Holy Spirit as well as the person of the Holy Spirit, as the third person of the Trinity in Christianity. Chapter 3 carries on the findings from the Qur’an, and furthermore give explanations as well as evaluate exegeses and various commentators’ opinions regarding al-ruh. Moreover, there are some disagreements among various Muslim commentators as manifested in their interpretations. Such disagreement is discernable with respect to the doctrine of Holy Spirit as a Person in the Trinity. In addition to this, various issues are investigated like: ‘Where did the divisions and disunity come from?’ Is it possible to find a satisfactory answer? ‘Is al-ruh the angel Gabriel?’ since the angel Gabriel is only mentioned once (66:4). Nevertheless, most of the commentators indicate that the Holy Spirit and the Spirit as the angel Gabriel are the same. Is there a gap in understanding between Muhammad and commentators? Is there a gap between classical and contemporary commentators? Chapter 4 presents a report of the empirical fieldwork carried out through interviews. Questionnaires are designed based on findings in the Qur’an and what commentators have said. A cross section of Muslims in the Western Cape of South Africa as well as Muslims from other African countries presently in Stellenbosch is selected for interviews. Several Islamic sects (i.e. Sunni, Sufis) who are found in South Africa are included in these interviews along with relevant information obtained from Internet sources. An analysis of data provides the basic thoughts for the assessment and response from the Christian point of view in Chapters 5 and 6. Chapter 5 is a comparative study. The aim is to find out similarities in both Christian and Muslim religious concepts, thereby attempting to build up on common grounds; and to find out the differences in understanding about the Holy Spirit and to restore an agreeable understanding of the concept of the Holy Spirit. The ultimate goal is to use the idea of the al-ruh from Qur’anic and Islamic concepts in order to build a bridge to the understanding of the Holy Spirit in Christianity. Some concepts are common to both Christianity and Islam, i.e. spirit (ruh), soul (nafs) and conscience (fitrah). Some fundamental doctrines are essential for both religions. For instance, The Oneness of God is understood in Islam as Tahwid (i.e. Oneness of Allah), and in Christianity, as Trinity, the Godhead or Triune God. Besides, both religions in terms of this doctrine contain elements of the transcendence and immanence of God in relation to creation. The key issue investigated further is ‘whether the Spirit is created or eternal’ and ‘Is al-ruh the created Spirit or the creator Spirit’? The question of how a Christian explains to a Muslim that Jesus is ultimately the Ruh Allah (the Spirit of God) introduced in the next chapter. Chapter 6 is a Missiological approach which is based on the fundamental knowledge of the Holy Spirit and the Trinity in Systematic theology and Missiology. Certain topics are examined from a comparative religious point of view; firstly, a comparison of the natural human with the spiritual human to find out the function of the conscience and of spirituality from a Biblical point of view. Secondly, a comparison of Jesus with Adam and an angel in terms of the purpose for which God created the whole world is made with a focus on Jesus in humanity. Thirdly, a definition of the divinity of Jesus in terms of two aspects: Jesus as the first-born Son of God and Jesus as Messiah (the anointed one and saviour of the world), using a historical, traditional and Christological understanding. Fourthly, a Pneumatological approach is applied as an innovation to this study. Its endeavours generally explore the human religious experience, in order to initiate a ‘dialectical dialogue’; and subsequently to focus on the Trinitarian experience in Islam. An interesting example of martyrdom as an imitation of Christ on the cross can be found among Sufi Sunni Muslims. This is an evidence of the freedom of the Holy Spirit working wherever he wills. In brief, although the Person and the work of the Holy Spirit are not very obvious in the Qur’an, a careful study makes it increasingly apparent. Finally, the work of the Holy Spirit is still alive in all religions, not least in Islam, as the resulting evidence of my research suggests.