Wolfhart Pannenberg

Chapter 12: The Outpouring of the Spirit, the Kingdom of God, and the Church   Pannenberg begins Chapter 12 with a discussion of the consummating of the plan of God for salvation by the Spirit. Pannenberg will stress the special nature of the soteriological work of the Spirit relative to creation. The Son and Spirit are active in creation, and they are active in the creation of the church. Their activity has the purpose of actualizing the saving work of God in the world. For that reason, we might say that “grieving the Holy Spirit” is of a personal sort, since the Spirit is so close to the church and to the individual. As Pannenberg will discuss, we might grieve the Spirit when we resist the formation of faith, hope, and love or resist the moral exhortations of the apostles. [1] The Spirit is a gift that glorifies creation. Augustine emphasized that the Spirit is the gift in which the fellowship of the Father and Son finds fulfillment in mutual love finds its depth whe...

Introduction In Chapters 12, 13, and 14, Pannenberg presents his theology of the church, or Ecclesiology. The Nicaean Creed presents the marks of the church as its unity, holiness, apostolicity, and catholicity. In light of the obvious diversity and weakness of the church, theologians wrestle with how we, in our time and place, can still affirm this portion of the creed. He will also interact throughout these chapters with Vatican II and official ecumenical texts regarding the church, doctrine, ministry, and sacraments. The New Testament also offers several images or themes that provided the basis for theological reflection. In Paul, the foundation of the church is Jesus Christ and a favorite emphasis is the church as the body of Christ. Luke presents the church in its origin and continuing growth as occurring in the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. We can see a similar emphasis in the Gospel of John. Holding together the Son and Spirit in terms of the history and functi...

¶ 4 Fourth, Dr. Congdon discusses the nature of the act of faith in Bultmann that has encouraged me to explore this subjective act from a theological perspective. Although the act of faith is subjective, I want to explore it as a way for the believer to align his or her life with Christ. Such a faith involves a transformation of life, orienting it toward making our lives about Christ. I want to explore theologically what we are doing when we turn to what God has done in Christ and enter the process of transformation into the image of the Son and walking in the power of the Spirit. This discussion is at a different level than that of how the pastor or evangelist would actually address people. However, I would like to think that behind the preaching and teaching of the people of the church, its leaders are engaging in such theological discussions. First, we will explore how Moltmann understands the illuminating and inspiring view of the subjective act of faith we find in Bultma...

¶ 3 Third, Dr. Congdon has made me more aware of the alien or strange nature of the gospel. An important reason for this strangeness is the context that Jewish apocalyptic provides for understanding both Jesus and the apostolic witness contained in the gospel. Jewish apocalyptic will feel strange and alien to the person living in the technocratic, scientific, and democratic setting of today. Demythologizing as Bultmann practices it is way of addressing the nature of this strangeness. Although the theologian may disagree with the direction Bultmann takes the mission of demythologizing, it seems inescapable that the theologian, and therefore the preacher and teacher in the church, will engage in the mission of demythologizing in some form. In effect, I hope I can raise the question for the reader not so much of whether the reader demythologizes, but how and on what basis you demythologize. In the form of a reminder, Bultmann gained much scholarly attention for his work on myth ...