In The Charismatic Theology of St. Luke, Robert Stronstad adduces a succinct interpretation of the significance of Holy Spirit according to Lukan theology. He examines both the Spirit’s activity in Luke-Acts and the implications of the Gift of the Spirit in empowering, equipping, and commissioning of God’s people for service. The text is separated into six sections covering “the Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts”, “the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament”, “the Holy Spirit in the Gospel of Luke”, “The Holy Spirit at Pentecost”, “The Holy Spirit in the Acts of the Apostles” and the Charismatic Theology of St. Luke.
Summary of the Work
In the first section, “The Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts: A Challenge in methodology”, Stronstad discusses the theological
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In this section Stronstad highlights the work of the charismatic Spirit in the Old Testament and the charismatic Spirit in the intertestamental period.
The following installment of The Charismatic Theology of St. Luke focuses on Holy Spirit in the Gospel of Luke and the Charismatic nature of Christ. In this chapter Stronstad examines how Luke observes the Spirit in the infancy narrative, inauguration narrative and various texts dispersed throughout his Gospel. A central motif within this section is Jesus fulfillment of Old testament prophetic trajectories. Next, Stronstad addresses the charismatic community and “The Holy Spirit at Pentecost”. He asserts: “The Pentecost narrative is the story of the transfer of the charismatic Spirit from Jesus to the disciples. [...] By this transfer of the Spirit, the disciples become the heirs and successors to the earthly charismatic ministry of Jesus” (Stronstad, 55). Additionally, he stresses the complexity of the gift of the Spirit. The event that transpired at Pentecost can be described as but not limited to a baptizing, clothing, outpouring, filling, and empowering of the Spirit. Acts of the Apostles chronicles the rapid advancement of the Gospel by way of the gift of the Holy Spirit. “The Holy Spirit in the Acts of the Apostles: The Charismatic Community in Mission” takes into account the narratives succeeding Pentecost including Spirit Baptisms from Samaria to Ephesus (Acts
In his first chapter, McRaney emphasize the involvement of the Holy Spirit in the conversion of sinners into saints (p. 27), and the all part of evangelism; in the life of His witnesses, and lost people, regeneration and conversion. The Holy Spirit helps the witness and the lost person’s understanding. When Christian who within the heart of God, desire to see all persons come into recovered relationship in faith to sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Evangelism begins. All that is in God’s control.
As we look at the writings of both St. Gregory and Gordon Fee, we see both similarities and differences. While Fee places more emphasis on the Holy Spirit in connection with Paul’s ministry, St. Gregory uses his eloquence to specifically defend the concept of the Holy Spirit
The Charismatic movement can be seen with the works of the Holy Spirit in action. Holy Spirit works in the natural world and said to work in believers to assist in their ministry. However, the views of the Continuationists and and Cessationists are different. The Continuationists believe gifts of the Holy Spirit to be at work until Jesus Christ’s second coming. On the other hand, Cessationists believe gifts of Holy Spirit to be stopped working after the end of New
The fundamental theme presented in chapter twenty five and twenty six of David W. Dorries book Spirit Filled Christology maintains that Jesus came, not only as a pathway for salvation, but also to lead as an example of the Spirit’s movements and to empower His church with supernatural abilities to further the ministry that He began. In order to expound upon his statements, Dorries uses historical context.
Often times we are at a loss for words when it comes to talking about the person of the Holy Spirit. Beth Felker Jones in her work entitled “God the Spirit” serves as an introduction to the study of the Holy Spirit in a distinctly Wesleyan and Ecumenical Perspective. Jones is working against the notion that the doctrine of the Holy Spirit is often the most neglected of all Christian teachings (1). She recognizes her experience within the Wesleyan tradition as one that shapes her pneumatology and this book. She asserts that one of Wesleyan Christianity’s special gifts is it’s “leaning against any tendency to neglect the Spirit” (4). Even with this framework she aims to place the Wesleyan perspective in a larger ecumenical milieu that shows the continuity of a Wesleyan pneumatology with the Tradition of the Church. Overall, her approach is very accessible, as she assumes very little and writes in such a way that allows her to cover large dogmatic topics clearly and concisely. By merit of simply being an introduction only style book, there is the risk of glossing over topics and not providing enough in depth discussion to fully understand and comprehend the doctrine discussed. A reader should feel confident that Jones has indeed provided us with a solid introduction to Wesleyan pneumatology that has the ability to bear fruit and initiate growth in the life of the believer.
Statement # 1(From The Cradle, The Cross, and The Crown Chapter 8, Loc 10638 of 28382, 1st Paragraph) “There are several significant human agents, but there is one, and only one, major divine agent underlying the entire plot of the book of Acts: the Holy Spirit. For this reason, rather than identifying the book as presenting the “Acts of the Apostles,” it may be more accurate to say that at its heart are the “Acts of the Holy Spirit.” I believe that the book of Acts is a great depiction of how the Holy Spirit can and will move through dedicated people. Without the Holy Spirit, Paul and all the great men in the book of Acts are just great men.
When considering the strengths and weaknesses of the book, the strengths dramatically outweigh the shortcomings. Allen succeeded in showing the reader that there is no excuse to discount the ministry of Paul as irrelevant in today’s missionary setting. He powerfully implemented scripture throughout the book with precision. Every verse, story, and biblical example of Paul’s practices and teachings that Allen used were necessary and served to back up his claims with ultimate truth. Also, the open addressing of his opponent’s arguments served to strengthen Allen’s thesis in a way that a simple stating of facts would be incapable of
Our source of knowledge of the apostolic work of Paul comes first from the Book of Acts. The epistles written by Paul serve to further our knowledge of his mission. These letters were written to churches that he had founded or churches that were known to him. Luke’s account of Paul introduces us to the basic facts about this important biblical figure. A more complete understanding of Paul’s journeys can be gleaned from his letters. These epistles were written almost at the time they occurred and they comprise some of the earliest works contained in the New Testament.
The Apostle Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, is a central figure within both Christian tradition and New Testament thought and writing. With such a crucial place, it is vital that we come to understand more of his life and thinking, as well as the world in which he and, more specifically, his theology were shaped. With this in mind, this essay will seek to explore Paul’s conversion and call experience as understood from Acts, and his personal references to it, drawing from them the ways in which this time was significant for Paul’s theological thinking, as expressed in his letters and work. To achieve this we will begin by addressing the call and/or conversion debate, arguing that the term ‘conversion and call’ best encapsulates
Many say the faith experience of this first apostolic group was unique; however, the other accounts in Acts also display distinction between conversion and baptism in the Spirit. (Acts 8, 19), although they may occur with little to no time separation in some instances (Acts 10).
“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.”-Acts 2:1, the key is they were one in agreement and they were together in the same place. I believe the writer of Acts, Luke, is showing us a contrast from the early Christians and the leadership of the Jewish faith. Throughout the New Testament we see the sharp contrast between the Pharisees and the Sadducees. But in Acts Luke is showing us the shocking difference between the system of ‘religion” they came out of and this “one accord” they operated in. “A unique Greek word, used 10 of its 12 New Testament occurrences in the Book of Acts, helps us understand the uniqueness of the Christian community. Homothumadon is a compound of two words meaning to
Luke and Acts tells the story of what Jesus did and taught during his ministry, first in his earthly life and then as the exalted Christ and Lord through his disciples. This essay will outline the various titles Luke used to portray or described Jesus in his two-volume narrative, in doing this we hope to get a better understanding and a complete picture of who Jesus was. Luke in his two volume work described Jesus in numerous ways and I am only going to be discussing four which referred to him as Christ, Lord, Prophet and Savior. The main Christological themes that appear in Luke-Acts highlighted and emphasised on the concept of the “Lord 's Christ”, meaning the coming ruler of God 's people, who will serve as their Savior and performing prophetic work [2 pg. 123-143]. Moreover, Jesus’s role was not assumed on his own initiative, but rather it was the work of God. Thus we can say that God’s work and plans were at the center of the Book of Acts and Luke’s gospel [1 pg 22].
In this article Harold Attridge examines Luke’s background, the scriptures Luke wrote, Jesus’s values, the context and purpose of Luke’s gospel and the treatment of Christians at the time of Luke’s writings. The article expresses that Luke’s Gospel was written before the destruction of Jerusalem and at a time when Christians were being persecuted for practicing their faith so consequently the purpose of his Gospel was to show an ethical example and imply that Christians could be good citizens. This source is relevant to the topic as it suggests the purpose of Luke's Gospel and the treatment of Christians before the fall of Jerusalem. A limitation of the website is that it has not been recently published, it’s publish date is April 1998 so it may not be up to date with the latest, accurate information. Nonetheless, this source is very beneficial and appropriate to the task as it provides facts and research on the chosen sacred text. This source will not be the cornerstone of my research but will add a good understanding to the purpose of the sacred text.
Each of the four Gospels contains points in ecclesiology. In the Great Commission, Jesus’ last instruction to the Apostles is to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching people (Matthew 28:19-20). For Jesus’ mission to continue and for his Church to grow, discipleship is necessary. Discipleship is a prominent theme in all four Gospels, for purposes of this essay, only the Gospels of John and Luke-Acts will be analyzed. The similarities regarding discipleship in these Gospels include images of the net and fishing, and the sheep/shepherd/sheepfold. The differences include the preparing of the Twelve to carry on Jesus' ministry in Luke, and service to the community and passing of authority in John's Gospel.
Their is much debate surrounding the use of the charismatic gifts in Acts. Many questions arise about how to use such gifts, and whether or not they can be used today in the first place. The debate regarding the continuation and the cessation of the spiritual gifts, the meaning of which we will clarify in a moment, is a relatively modern one. Although we read about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost in Acts, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the early church of the New Testament, history is more or less silent on this issue. It was not until the early