Pneumatology Essays (Examples)

Pneumatology -- Spiitual Gifts
"Speaking in Tongues" is an established spiitual gift given by God fo God's people. It has biblical bases as a gift and sign of the Holy Spiit that was undestood by foeign-speaking people and/o was intepeted fo the chuch community. In addition, it was and sometimes is egaded as a sign of Baptism in the Holy Spiit. The moden validity of "Speaking in Tongues" depends on how a chuch intepets "the pefect" in 1 Cointhians 13:8-10.

What ae spiitual gifts, and what is thei pupose?

"Speaking in Tongues" is one of the spiitual gifts. Spiitual gifts ae God's way of giving powe to his people though the Holy Spiit fo the community's sevice and life. These gifts allow God's people to gloify God though thei attitude, actions, lives and ministy (Cole, 2007, p. 249). Some gifts, such as teaching o geneosity, seem to come out of…

ible Pneumatology: Spiritual Gifts
When it comes to spiritual gifts, they seem to be a subject that is very controversial in the church. Are all spiritual gifts real and are they really necessary in the church? In 1 Peter 4:10 it makes the point, "As every person has been given a special gift, use the gift it in serving one another, as good agents of the diverse grace of God." However in 1 Corinthians 12:4 it also says, "Now there are diversities of gifts, nevertheless it is from the same Spirit." It is clear that these two verses basically are making the point that the thought that every one of the gifts are the similar in the Spirit and they are created to serve others. With that said, this essay will discuss the spiritual gifts and why they are needed in the church.

Spiritual Gifts and Purpose

Spiritual gifts (or…

Pneumatology: Spiritual Gifts
Pneumatology is often defined as the study of the spirit, or the spiritual relationship between humanity and God. It is often one of the most difficult and ephemeral concepts for believers to understand, especially the concept of spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts are defined as gifts specifically given to the Christian to enable him or her to perform a holy service. [footnoteRef:1] Spiritual gifts are special gifts bestowed for an unusual service and figure prominently in the life and writings of Paul, who was given the spiritual gift of ministry. Paul was dramatically called to the ministry on the road to Damascus and experienced a profound conversion to Christianity that changed his life and also the history of Christianity. Paul became an apostle to the gentiles, educating the entire world about what the sacrifice of Christ meant for humanity. It is said that there are five gifts of…

Pneumatology -- Spiritual Gifts
hat are spiritual gifts, and what is their purpose?

The reason for and definition of "spiritual gifts" is not always agreed upon among Christians and even among Christian theologians. At the very least spiritual gifts are a subject for deep discussion and debate. Christianity expert Mary Fairchild explains that in 1 Corinthians 12, the Bible says that spiritual gifts are given according to God's sovereign will. "There are certain kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them" (1 Corinthians 12:4); and 1 Corinthians goes on to explain that one spiritual gift is given for "the common good," another spiritual gift is for "wisdom"; another spiritual gift is for "knowledge"; another is for the "gift of healing"; and other spiritual gifts are for "miraculous powers… prophecy… speaking in tongues & #8230; and the "interpretation of tongues" (1 Corinthians 12: 7-11).

Jesus had the power to cast…

Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. This invocation, accompanying the sign of the cross, marks the beginning and end of every Roman Catholic prayer. It has become synonymous with Catholicism -- a celebration of the crucifix as representative of the lessed Trinity. While, every good Catholic takes this Triumvirate for granted, it is left to theological scholars like Jurgen Moltmann to dissect and analyze the salient features of the Trinity. Is the Trinity a Pneumatological or Christological entity? Is it a combination of the two? Where is God in the scheme of Moltmann's thesis? The theoditic question challenged the omnipotence, omnipresence and omniscience of God in his relationship with man. Is this question revisited in relation to Jesus Christ as the carrier of the Holy Spirit during his life on earth? Moltmann presents a clear interpretation of the relationship between Christ and the Holy Spirit…

152.). He describes Methodism as the 'old religion' (ibid.), the one that closest linked itself to the early Christian Church. The Holy Spirit infused tradition as it did the writers of the Scripture, and therefore, discovery of true understanding could of the work of the Holy Spirit could be reinforced by linking oneself to tradition, specifically to tradition that wound its way back to Christianity's earliest beginnings.
eason

eason was an integral component to Wesley's philosophy. It could expand religion and could convert man from robotic theological follower to enthusiastic and rational theological follower. eason, however, had to be the handmaiden of religion (i.e. Of Scripture in this case). Again, true reason is that which is infused by and follows the Holy Spirit for guidance. The Holy Spirit, in other words (or the words of the Scripture that is infused with Holy Spirit) is supposed to ct as guide for…

Western Religion
In his book, "Western Ways of eing Religious," (Kessler, 1999) the author Gary E. Kessler identifies the theological, philosophical and societal ramifications of the evolution of religion in the West. Christianity, Judaism and Islam can be traced to a single origin but their divergence has been very marked. Kessler sets his thesis very early in the book. He avers that there are two approaches to religion. One is to be immersed in it -- as a practitioner; the other is to study it as an objective observer, looking in from the outside. This work is unique. The author challenges the traditional notions with his own opinions then follows it with the views of an expert on that notion (in the form of a speech or an essay). He avers that a student of religion has to approach the topic with honesty and openness. This often involves imagining the…

Persona Christi
An Analysis of the Priesthood "in persona Christi" and "in nominee ecclesiae"

The questions that surround the functions of the priesthood and the diaconate today appear to be part and parcel of the greater uncertainty that surrounds ancient Church customs. This paper will attempt to analyze the meanings of the phrases "in persona Christi" and "in nomine ecclesiae" as they have reflected the functions of the ministers of the Church both in the past and in today. The conclusion of this research is that while the traditional Church maintained a clear definition (and reverent propriety regarding the mystery of the priestly aspect), today's Church is less sure of the role and function of the minister in relation to Church hierarchy and Church laity.

In Persona Christi

Historical Background: the Vestments

Pius XII's (1947) encyclical Mediator Dei describes for us the aspect of the priest in relation to Jesus…

God's taking sides can be pushed to saying that the rich cannot be saved, or that God does not love everyone.
The Holy Spirit and iberation Theology

As Boff and Boff ( 1987) state: "Every true theology springs from a spirituality -- that is, from a true meeting with God in history. iberation theology was born when faith confronted the injustice done to the poor."

In this sense the Spirit is essentially perceived in terms of the interconnection between humanity and God. Put less blatantly, the Holy Spirit is the conduit of the absolute or divine to the domain of human existential experience. This view of the Spirit resonates with the focus on experiential suffering in the world. In other words, the Holy Spirit is not abstract but is rather perceived as a spiritual source of intervention in the world, which coincides with the focus of liberation theology.

The issue…

Hamlet's Ghost has presented a problem for critics and readers since it first appeared on stage some four hundred years ago. Serving as the pivot upon which the action of the play is established -- Hamlet's father's ghost delivers him important information about his death and the throne -- one is likely to ask whether the ghost is truly the soul of King Hamlet or rather a devil appearing in disguise in order to trick (like Iago) the hero of the drama into a fatal course. This paper will examine the theology behind Hamlet's ghost and compare and contrast the Christian and unchristian, Catholic and Protestant, traits found in the play.
As Roy . Battenhouse states, "One may agree with Dover ilson that the Ghost is the 'linchpin' without which Hamlet falls to pieces, yet question ilson's judgment that the Ghost 'is Catholic,' 'comes from Purgatory,' and 'is the only…

" It caused missionaries to deal with peoples of other cultures and even Christian traditions -- including the Orthodox -- as inferior. God's mission was understood to have depended upon human efforts, and this is why we came to hold unrealistic universalistic assumptions. Christians became so optimistic that they believed to be able to correct all the ills of the world." (Vassiliadis, 2010)
Missiology has been undergoing changes in recent years and after much serious consideration Christians in the ecumenical era "are not only questioning all the above assumptions of the Enlightenment; they have also started developing a more profound theology of mission. One can count the following significant transitions:

(a) From the missio christianorum to the missio ecclesiae;

(b) the recognition later that subject of mission is not even the Church, either as an institution or through its members, but God, thus moving further from the missio ecclesiae to…

" (omans 12.6 and 1 Cor. 12) This includes the gift of spiritual direction. Therefore, it can be garnered that the Holy Spirit provides the contemporary Church "with forms other than those used by the ancient elder to achieve this same purpose." (2000) Allen writes that it would be erroneous to claim that the Holy Spirit "could not again, in any age, raise up the pater penumatikos (the spiritual father) for the continuing ministry of the Church." (2000) in fact, since the Holy Spirit abides in the Church, then according to Allen, it "follows that there will be an ever-renewing form of pneumatophoroi, or 'bearers' or 'carriers' of that Spirit.
II. The Central Task of Spiritual Direction

Allen writes that the central task of spiritual direction in terms of its goal and historical goals is the leading of individuals "deeper and deeper into the struggle for the Christian life, that…