Wolfhart Pannenberg

Chapter 13: The Messianic Community and Individuals               Pannenberg begins with a discussion of the fellowship of individuals with Jesus Christ and the church as the fellowship of believers. The church aims its missionary message to the salvation of individuals. Jesus addressed his message of the imminent rule of God to individuals rather than the development of a political program. He will want to explore the relation between the fellowship of individuals with Jesus Christ and their gathering in the church. One, Pannenberg discusses the church as the fellowship of believers and the body of Christ. As the body of Christ, the image addresses the inseparable union of believers with Christ. We see this reality particularly in Word and Sacrament. The unity of the body is one we perceive only through faith. Two, he discusses the mediating of the fellowship of believers by the common confession. The confession of...

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...