In the most recent post in this series celebrating the strengths of different Christian traditions, I talked about how I appreciate the room that the ancient Christian mystical tradition has for manifestations such as visions and dreams. In some ways, today’s post, about why I am charismatic, is part two of that post. At the … Continue reading Why I am … Charismatic
A recurring theme on this blog (and indeed in the New Testament) is that being a Christian means living a radically different life. There is supposed to a marked difference between life following Jesus and life following our own impulses, between life with the Spirit and life outside of the Spirit. There are few places … Continue reading Life in the Spirit: A Reflection on Romans 8.12-17
Just in time for Pentecost Sunday, it's time to bring my historical survey about the Holy Spirit to a close with some theological affirmations and a call to action.
In Tuesday’s post, we saw how the Medieval Church tried to hold a public, ecclesiastical, and sacramental understanding of the role of the Holy Spirit in creative tension with a private and mystical one. Today we turn to the Reformation, which exploded all of the Western Church’s attempted syntheses and compromises. The centuries since the … Continue reading The Holy Spirit in Church History, Part 3: The Reformation and Beyond
Yesterday we saw that while, by and large, the Church Fathers had a high view of the Holy Spirit and its role in the life of Christians, there were some significant shifts from the second through fifth centuries in what Christians expected the Holy Spirit to do. Specifically, teaching on spiritual gifts became less about … Continue reading The Holy Spirit in Church History, Part 2: Medieval Thought
Matthew Root 