The Holy Spirit as Transforming Power Within a Society: Pneumatological Spirituality and Its Political/Social Relevance for Western Europe
Identifieur interne : 000A81 ( Istex/Corpus ); précédent : 000A80; suivant : 000A82The Holy Spirit as Transforming Power Within a Society: Pneumatological Spirituality and Its Political/Social Relevance for Western Europe
Auteurs : Matthias WenkSource :
- Journal of Pentecostal Theology [ 0966-7369 ] ; 2002.
Url:
DOI: 10.1177/096673690201100109
Links to Exploration step
ISTEX:A32F9C4036F2DBB3E14954CA4F284A6F80347051Le document en format XML
<record><TEI wicri:istexFullTextTei="biblStruct"><teiHeader><fileDesc><titleStmt><title>The Holy Spirit as Transforming Power Within a Society: Pneumatological Spirituality and Its Political/Social Relevance for Western Europe</title><author wicri:is="90%"><name sortKey="Wenk, Matthias" sort="Wenk, Matthias" uniqKey="Wenk M" first="Matthias" last="Wenk">Matthias Wenk</name></author></titleStmt><publicationStmt><idno type="wicri:source">ISTEX</idno><idno type="RBID">ISTEX:A32F9C4036F2DBB3E14954CA4F284A6F80347051</idno><date when="2002" year="2002">2002</date><idno type="doi">10.1177/096673690201100109</idno><idno type="url">https://api.istex.fr/document/A32F9C4036F2DBB3E14954CA4F284A6F80347051/fulltext/pdf</idno><idno type="wicri:Area/Istex/Corpus">000A81</idno><idno type="wicri:explorRef" wicri:stream="Istex" wicri:step="Corpus" wicri:corpus="ISTEX">000A81</idno></publicationStmt><sourceDesc><biblStruct><analytic><title level="a">The Holy Spirit as Transforming Power Within a Society: Pneumatological Spirituality and Its Political/Social Relevance for Western Europe</title><author wicri:is="90%"><name sortKey="Wenk, Matthias" sort="Wenk, Matthias" uniqKey="Wenk M" first="Matthias" last="Wenk">Matthias Wenk</name></author></analytic><monogr></monogr><series><title level="j">Journal of Pentecostal Theology</title><title level="j" type="abbrev">PENT</title><idno type="ISSN">0966-7369</idno><idno type="eISSN">1745-5251</idno><imprint><publisher>BRILL</publisher><pubPlace>The Netherlands</pubPlace><date type="published" when="2002">2002</date><biblScope unit="volume">11</biblScope><biblScope unit="issue">1</biblScope><biblScope unit="page" from="130">130</biblScope><biblScope unit="page" to="142">142</biblScope></imprint><idno type="ISSN">0966-7369</idno></series><idno type="istex">A32F9C4036F2DBB3E14954CA4F284A6F80347051</idno><idno type="DOI">10.1177/096673690201100109</idno><idno type="href">17455251_011_01_s009_text.pdf</idno></biblStruct></sourceDesc><seriesStmt><idno type="ISSN">0966-7369</idno></seriesStmt></fileDesc><profileDesc><textClass></textClass><langUsage><language ident="en">en</language></langUsage></profileDesc></teiHeader></TEI><istex><corpusName>brill-journals</corpusName><author><json:item><name>Matthias Wenk</name></json:item></author><genre><json:string>research-article</json:string></genre><host><volume>11</volume><pages><last>142</last><first>130</first></pages><issn><json:string>0966-7369</json:string></issn><issue>1</issue><genre></genre><language><json:string>unknown</json:string></language><eissn><json:string>1745-5251</json:string></eissn><title>Journal of Pentecostal Theology</title></host><language><json:string>eng</json:string></language><qualityIndicators><score>5.076</score><pdfVersion>1.4</pdfVersion><pdfPageSize>453 x 699 pts</pdfPageSize><refBibsNative>false</refBibsNative><keywordCount>0</keywordCount><abstractCharCount>0</abstractCharCount><pdfWordCount>4564</pdfWordCount><pdfCharCount>27576</pdfCharCount><pdfPageCount>13</pdfPageCount><abstractWordCount>1</abstractWordCount></qualityIndicators><title>The Holy Spirit as Transforming Power Within a Society: Pneumatological Spirituality and Its Political/Social Relevance for Western Europe</title><publicationDate>2002</publicationDate><copyrightDate>2002</copyrightDate><doi><json:string>10.1177/096673690201100109</json:string></doi><id>A32F9C4036F2DBB3E14954CA4F284A6F80347051</id><fulltext><json:item><original>true</original><mimetype>application/pdf</mimetype><extension>pdf</extension><uri>https://api.istex.fr/document/A32F9C4036F2DBB3E14954CA4F284A6F80347051/fulltext/pdf</uri></json:item><json:item><original>false</original><mimetype>application/zip</mimetype><extension>zip</extension><uri>https://api.istex.fr/document/A32F9C4036F2DBB3E14954CA4F284A6F80347051/fulltext/zip</uri></json:item><istex:fulltextTEI uri="https://api.istex.fr/document/A32F9C4036F2DBB3E14954CA4F284A6F80347051/fulltext/tei"><teiHeader><fileDesc><titleStmt><title level="a">The Holy Spirit as Transforming Power Within a Society: Pneumatological Spirituality and Its Political/Social Relevance for Western Europe</title><respStmt xml:id="ISTEX-API" resp="Références bibliographiques récupérées via GROBID" name="ISTEX-API (INIST-CNRS)"></respStmt></titleStmt><publicationStmt><authority>ISTEX</authority><publisher>BRILL</publisher><pubPlace>The Netherlands</pubPlace><availability><p>BRILL Journals</p></availability><date>2002</date></publicationStmt><sourceDesc><biblStruct type="inbook"><analytic><title level="a">The Holy Spirit as Transforming Power Within a Society: Pneumatological Spirituality and Its Political/Social Relevance for Western Europe</title><author><persName><forename type="first">Matthias</forename><surname>Wenk</surname></persName></author></analytic><monogr><title level="j">Journal of Pentecostal Theology</title><title level="j" type="abbrev">PENT</title><idno type="pISSN">0966-7369</idno><idno type="eISSN">1745-5251</idno><imprint><publisher>BRILL</publisher><pubPlace>The Netherlands</pubPlace><date type="published" when="2002"></date><biblScope unit="volume">11</biblScope><biblScope unit="issue">1</biblScope><biblScope unit="page" from="130">130</biblScope><biblScope unit="page" to="142">142</biblScope></imprint></monogr><idno type="istex">A32F9C4036F2DBB3E14954CA4F284A6F80347051</idno><idno type="DOI">10.1177/096673690201100109</idno><idno type="href">17455251_011_01_s009_text.pdf</idno></biblStruct></sourceDesc></fileDesc><profileDesc><creation><date>2002</date></creation><langUsage><language ident="en">en</language></langUsage></profileDesc><revisionDesc><change when="2002">Created</change><change when="2002">Published</change><change xml:id="refBibs-istex" who="#ISTEX-API" when="2016-3-13">References added</change></revisionDesc></teiHeader></istex:fulltextTEI><json:item><original>false</original><mimetype>text/plain</mimetype><extension>txt</extension><uri>https://api.istex.fr/document/A32F9C4036F2DBB3E14954CA4F284A6F80347051/fulltext/txt</uri></json:item></fulltext><metadata><istex:metadataXml wicri:clean="corpus brill-journals not found" wicri:toSee="no header"><istex:xmlDeclaration>version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"</istex:xmlDeclaration><istex:docType PUBLIC="-//NLM//DTD Journal Publishing DTD v2.3 20070202//EN" URI="http://dtd.nlm.nih.gov/publishing/2.3/journalpublishing.dtd" name="istex:docType"></istex:docType><istex:document><article article-type="research-article" dtd-version="2.3">
<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="e-issn">17455251</journal-id>
<journal-title>Journal of Pentecostal Theology</journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title>PENT</abbrev-journal-title>
<issn pub-type="ppub">0966-7369</issn>
<issn pub-type="epub">1745-5251</issn>
<publisher>
<publisher-name>BRILL</publisher-name>
<publisher-loc>The Netherlands</publisher-loc>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.1177/096673690201100109</article-id>
<title-group>
<article-title>The Holy Spirit as Transforming Power Within a Society: Pneumatological Spirituality and Its Political/Social Relevance for Western Europe</article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group>
<contrib contrib-type="author">
<name>
<surname>Wenk</surname>
<given-names>Matthias</given-names>
</name>
</contrib>
</contrib-group>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<year>2002</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>11</volume>
<issue>1</issue>
<fpage>130</fpage>
<lpage>142</lpage>
<permissions>
<copyright-statement>© 2002 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2002</copyright-year>
<copyright-holder>Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands</copyright-holder>
</permissions>
<self-uri content-type="pdf" xlink:href="17455251_011_01_s009_text.pdf"></self-uri>
<custom-meta-wrap>
<custom-meta>
<meta-name>version</meta-name>
<meta-value>header</meta-value>
</custom-meta>
</custom-meta-wrap>
</article-meta>
</front>
<body>
<p>130 THE HOLY SPIRIT AS TRANSFORMING POWER WITHIN A SOCIETY: PNEUMATOLOGICAL SPIRITUALITY AND ITS POLITICAL/SOCIAL RELEVANCE FOR WESTERN EUROPE Matthias Wenk* Bernstrasse 36G, CH-3324 Hindelbank, Switzerland e-mail: m.wenk@bewegungplus.ch * Matthias Wenk (PhD, Brunel University, London) is pastor of the ’Bewegung- Plus’ in Hindelbank and part-time lecturer at the Theologisch-Diakonisches Seminar, Aarau, Switzerland. ABSTRACT Both British and American Black Pentecostals as well as Latin American ones have begun to to develop a social ethic based on a pneumatological perspective. Their liberating and empowering experience of the Spirit has provided them with new categories and options to institute social change. By contrast, Western European Pentecostals have been predominantly silent in this regard. This article argues that a pneumatological spirituality has socio-political relevance also for Western European Pentecostals. Both the experience of the Spirit, as reflected in Luke—Acts and 1 Cor. 12-14, as well as the history of Pentecostalism, underline this thesis. However, in order to recover this social/political dimension of their Spirit-experience, Western European Pentecostals need to recover the community and social dimension of the kingdom of God over against a Western individualistic, internalized and spiritualized definition thereof. . Introduction For many Pentecostals and Charismatics in Western Europe’ it does not come naturally to associate a pneumatological spirituality with political 1. Some of the observations made may apply for all of Western society, however, since I am living in Western Europe, I can speak only for this part of the world and not for Western society in general.</p>
<p>131 relevance. The two are either perceived as not relating to each other or even as mutually exclusive, for the Spirit’s domain is the ’inner person’ whereas politics deals with facts of the ’external world’. Although both in Western Europe and in the USA Pentecostalism was first pacifistic and racially integrated, Pentecostals in Western Europe today tend to voice their worries predominantly on ’moral issues’ such as abortion or homosexuality, but less on racism’ or social questions related to unemployment. And when it comes to questions of globalzation, eco- nomic justice and concern for the environment, Pentecostals in Western Europe are mostly speechless, and only a few will perceive an explicit relation between a pneumatological spirituality and these social/economic problems of our time. For example, in the fall of 2001 Switzerland was faced with the bank- ruptcy of their national airline. In light of the enormous settlement made to those responsible for the disaster, Pentecostals were as agitated as other people by the lack of a social strategy for the workers. But Pentecostals would not have associated their political stand for social justice in this mat- ter with their experience of the Spirit. Although many Pentecostals could quote by memory passages like Isa. 11.1-4, 42.1 and 61.1-2, they were not likely to associate the justice that the Spirit-anointed messiah is to restore with the injustice related to the payment of these settlements. Many would say that such a payment is either unfair or not right, but no Pentecostal said that ’it goes against the workings of the Spirit’. This is because the justice spoken of in Isaiah is in the view of many European Pentecostals ’inter- nalized’, individualized and associated with a person’s ’justification by faith’. As such, for many Pentecostals the work of the Spirit speaks about the ’spiritual realm’ and not about politics. Such an approach is not with- out consequences for a community’s social ethics, as Beckford has pointed out in regard to the process of spiritualizing among Black British Pente- costals when faced with racism: ’Despite the psycho-social satisfaction we experienced from prayer, spiritualizing reality promoted socio-political passivity-there was no external protest or challenge to the white suprema- cist powers within our town’.3 . 2. Cf. A.M. Brazier, Black Self-Determination: The Story of the Woodlawn Organi- zation (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1969); Frank Chikane, No Life of My Own (Braamfon- tein : Skotaville Publishers, 1988). 3. R. Beckford, ’Black Pentecostals and Black Politics’, in W.J. Hollenweger and A.H. Anderson (eds), Pentecostals after a Century: Global Perspectives on a Movement in Transition (JPTSup, 15; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1999), pp. 48-59 (48).</p>
<p>132 However, even in the absence of relating issues of social/political con- cern explicitly to the workings of the Spirit, a Pentecostal pneumatological spirituality has never been without implications in this area,’ and thus Pentecostals in general are not oblivious to matters of social justice.5 We further need to remember that, ’the definition of social concern that in- cludes only political, state and civil categories cannot capture other equally important areas of social concern. Political involvement is only one alterna- tive among several options of social action to institute social change 6 Hence, Western European Pentecostals have to define and develop such options, as Beckford has done for the British Black community. As an example he has identified the Black music tradition as such an option to institute social change: ’It is both spiritual and political... When things go wrong in the black community, the church’s response for &dquo;someone to raise a song&dquo; is an act of defiance!&dquo; White Western European Pentecostals also have to be aware that their emphasis in a pneumatological spirituality might differ significantly from, for example, a Black British’ or Hispanic American’ one. Whereas black British Pentecostals and/or Hispanic American ones may experience the 4. For an appraisal of the social relevance of a pneumatological spirituality of the charismatic/pentecostal churches in Brazil, without explicitly addressing such issues, cf. R. Shaull and W. Cesar, Pentecostalism and the Future of the Christian Churches (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000). 5. Cf. Murray Dempster, ’Pentecostal Social Concern and the Biblical Mandate of Social Justice’, Pneuma 9 (1987), pp. 129-52; idem, ’Christian Social Concern in Pen- tecostal Perspective: Reformulating Pentecostal Eschatology’, JPT 2 (1993), pp. 51-64; Veli-Mätti Kärkkainen, ’Are Pentecostals Oblivious of Social Justice? Theological and Ecumenical Perspectives’, in Ch. Dahling-Sander et al. (eds.), ( Pfingstkirchen und Ökumene in Bewegung, Beiheft zur ökumenischen Rundschau, 71; Frankfurt: Otto Lembeck, 2001), pp. 50-65. For a report on the Roman-Catholic/Pentecostal Dialogue related to social justice, cf. Kärkkainen, Ad ultimum terrae. Evangelization, Prosely- tism and Common Witness in the Roman Catholic Pentecostal Dialogue (1990-1997) (Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 1999), pp. 159-88. 6. Doug Peterson, Not by Might: A Pentecostal Theology of Social Concern (Oxford: University Press, 1996), p. 231. Similarly: Shaull and Cesar, Pentecostalism. 7. Beckford, ’Black Pentecostals and Black Politics’, p. 55. 8. Cf. the works by Robert Beckford, Jesus is Dread: Black Theology and Black Culture in Britain (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1998); idem, Dread and Pente- costal: A Political Theology for the Black Church in Britain (London: SPCK, 2000); idem, God of the Rahtid: Redeeming Rage (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 2001). 9. Cf. Eldin Villafañe, The Liberating Spirit: Toward an Hispanic American Pentecostal Social Ethic (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993).</p>
<p>133 Spirit’s liberating power as those who normally are marginalized and/or experience themselves as oppressed by the dominant culture,&dquo; Western European Pentecostals are part of the ’oppressing element’ within the same larger society. While it may be true that a number of Western Euro- pean Pentecostals are part of the lower working class, they are-globally speaking-still part of the 10 per cent of this world’s population that earn at least 80 per cent of the world’s income. Thus Western European Pente- costals need to develop their pneumatological social ethic ’from the other end of the game’.&dquo; 1 I would like to display the inter-relatedness between a pneumatological spirituality and social/political relevance based on what has always been dear to Pentecostals: the Bible and their own story. In the following two paragraphs, Pentecostals are referred to in general terms. Only at the end will I try to relate these findings to the current situation in Western Europe, and make some remarks on a politically relevant spirituality for Western European Pentecostals/Charismatics. The Spirit as Community-Forming Power in the New Testament (2 Cor. 13.13) Pentecostal/charismatic pneumatology is predominantly Lukan in its em- phasis and when it comes to Paul, Pentecostals seem to be mainly inter- ested in 1 Cor. 12 and 14. For many Pentecostals the Spirit in Luke-Acts is understood predominantly as empowering the believers for ministry, especially prophetic expressions and/or missionary/evangelistic activity. 12 This view is based on an interpretation of Pentecost as an empowering experience in the disciples’ lives; thus the Spirit is donum superadditum. 10. Thus Beckford asks in one of his articles: ’Is it possible to be a black Pente- costal and black conscious-concerned with black mobilization in Britain today?’ (Beckford, ’Black Pentecostals and Black Politics’, p. 48). 11. For a short summary of how individuals and a society/institution dialectically relate to and influence each other, cf. P.L. Berger, The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion (New York: Anchor Books, 1969), p. 4. 12. Pentecostal interpretation of Lukan pneumatology agrees largely with the results of the more critical exegetical works of such scholars as Hermann Gunkel, The Influence of the Holy Spirit: The Popular View of the Apostolic Age and the Teaching of the Apostle Paul (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1979); Eduard Schweizer, ’pneuma’, in G. Kittel (ed.), TDNT, VI (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964), pp. 394-453. For a Pen- tecostal perspective, cf. R.P. Menzies, The Development of Early Christian Pneumatol- ogy with Special Reference to Luke—Acts (JSNTSup, 54; Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1991).</p>
<p>134 Such a Spirit understanding also has an ecclesiological component. Pen- tecostals normally take seriously the ’priesthood of all believers’. For them all Church members are bearers of the Spirit, and thus all contribute to the well-being and the edification of each other, and to the fulfilment of God’s s mission. Thus Pentecostal worship services tend to have a high level of participation,13 and this has indirect bearing on the social/political rele- vance of their spirituality: the indwelling of the Spirit restores a person’s dignity because she or he contributes to the community life; her or his role is neither passive nor reduced to the one of a victim. She or he is freed to act, to speak and to affect the community life. However, there is also a more direct link between a pneumatological spirituality and its social/political relevance: Pentecostals also are aware of Luke’s special concern for the poor, the marginalized and the helpless, as well as of his emphasis on inter-personal reconciliation (Lk. 1.17: ’He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the sons’). 14 This concern for a reconcilia- tion among people and the restoration of human dignity is reflected in multiple ways. Here are just two types of example: (1) Jesus’ care for the excluded ones, the culticly impure people and sinners (the lepers, tax collectors, etc., summarized in the pro- grammatic text in Lk. 4.16-30). (2) Luke’s description of Barnabas, a man full of Spirit and of faith (Acts 11.24) who has a ministry of reconciliation between Saul and the church (Acts 9.26-28); between the Jewish church in Jerusalem and the Hellenistic church in Antioch (Acts 15.22); and between Paul and Mark (Acts 15.36-41). A possible approach to argue for a more explicit link between Spirit mani- festation and social/ethical issues may be found if one analyses the visions and inspired speeches in Luke-Acts according to the changes they induced within the society or community. Thus, the role of the Spirit is no longer seen to be limited to inspiring a certain speech but it also comprises the intended effect of such a speech. Three examples may illustrate how Spirit manifestations had a direct bearing on the social structure of the church, as presented in the Lukan writings.&dquo; 13. Cf. Daniel E. Albrecht, Rites in the Spirit: A Ritual Approach to Pentecostal/ Charismatic Spirituality (JPTSup, 17; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1999). 14. Hence, the Baptist’s attention to tax collectors and soldiers has to be viewed in this light (Lk. 3.1-19). 15. For a fuller discussion of each of these examples, cf. M. Wenk, Community-</p>
<p>135 Examples ofLukan SpiritManifestation Followed by Concluding Remarks on 7 Cor. 12-1416 First, I would point to the narrative of Mary and Elizabeth (Lk. 1.39-45). At the beginning of his Gospel, Luke introduces an elderly, priestly cou- ple. The mentioning of their age, their place of living as in Judea, their genealogy and the husband’s ’profession’ all exemplify people of high status, honour and of a godly life. Over against them is Mary, a young woman from the religiously mixed region of Galilee, without a special family background and of no status.&dquo; One is almost tempted to say that the work of the Spirit only exacerbated her social status: as an unmarried girl she became pregnant. The socially proper procedure of greeting between Mary and Elizabeth would have been that the younger submits to the older. In addition, Mary’s shame would stand as an obstruction between her and the old woman’s honour. But through the work of the Spirit a reversal of the social status takes place: the elderly, honourable woman praises the young, pregnant girl as the mother of her Lord. Through the prophetic word the generally acknowledged definitions of shame and honour were overturned and the social roles newly defined, as reflected in the Magnificat (Lk. 1.4-52). Second, we should consider the narrative of Pentecost (Acts 2). Luke presents Pentecost as the fulfilment of the restoration of Israel, expressed by the quotation of Joel 3.1-5 (Eng. 2.28-32) and by Peter’s following sermon. Joel 3.1-5 speaks of the coming age of salvation in which the Spirit will be poured out upon all persons. The choice of the social categories has been deliberately expressed and reflects, with the exceptions of the elderly, those that had generally nothing to say in society: young people, Forming Power: The Socio-Ethical Role of the Spirit in Luke—Acts (JPTSup, 19; Shef- field: Sheffield Academic Press, 2000). 16. It should be noted, however, that neither Luke nor Paul showed much interest in Roman politics of their day nor in a restructuring of the society at large. They focused on the church as the community in which the eschatological salvation had dawned and had been realized. Surely they expected this renewal to span the entire world, but disconnected from the church, the New Testament authors cared little for issues in Roman politics and society, although their language at times reflects a criti- cism of this world order. Slightly different is the Apocalypse of John, in which the Roman state is the personified power opposing God. The Apocalypse’s definition of ’power’ as the real ’anti-Christ’ is quite significant in our current world that is absorbed with claims for power. 17. Cf. J.B. Green, ’The Social Status of Mary in Luke 1.5-2.52: A Plea for Methodological Integration’, Bib 73 (1992), pp. 457-72.</p>
<p>136 women, slaves and maidens. The passage in Joel is less concerned with the renewal of prophecy, in and of itself, than with the renewal of society as a sign of the eschatological salvation (cf. Isa. 11.1-4; 31.1-20; 42.1-4; 61.1- 5 ; Ezek. 36 and 37). The prophetic word discloses this renewal, for the renewal anticipated in Joel 3.1-5 is a holistic one and comprises Israel’s social, political, religious and ecological life: the day of salvation. This is precisely what Luke narrates in the following pericope.(Acts 2.42-47). The Spirit’s outpouring leads to a community that surpasses the hellenistic ideals of friendship because no longer is interaction only between people from the same social level but rather Christian fellowship around the table includes all gender and social classes.&dquo; Third, we can note the conversion stories in Acts 8-11.19 In all these narratives (the stories of the Samaritans, the Ethiopian eunuch, Saul, and Cornelius) the role of the Spirit is less that of inspiring the proclamation of the Gospel, than that of initiating a communication process that would never have taken place otherwise: with the Samaritans because Luke knows of the conflict between Jerusalem and Samaria (Lk. 9.51-53); with the Ethiopian because he is a foreigner and as a eunuch excluded from the people of God (cf. Deut. 23.1-9); with Saul because he is a persecutor of the church; and with Cornelius because he is a pagan. In each story the Spirit’s manifestation leads to a re-definition of the community of the peo- ple of God: the church is no longer the same. From now on the Spirit is the identity marker for belonging to the community of faith. This community comprises those who were traditionally perceived as outside. Thus, the role of the Spirit cannot be restricted to inspiring the missionary proclama- tion ; the manifestations of the Spirit became foundational for re-defining the symbolic universe of the church. It was no longer defined by exclusiv- ism but now was inclusive. Fourth, similar observations as have been made about Luke’s account of Pentecost can be made about Paul’s reference to the charismata in 1 Cor. 12-14. In the Pauline churches literally everybody had something to say, regardless of their social and/or ethnic background and regardless of their gender. Thereby the Pauline churches experienced that among the people of God those who had a voice were not only the ’first ones’ of society, but 18. B. Capper, The Book of Acts in its First-Century Setting. VI. Reciprocity and the Ethic of Acts (Carlisle: Paternoster Press, 2001), pp. 497-518. 19. Cf. M. Wenk, ’Community-Forming Power: Reconciliation and the Spirit in Acts’, Journal of the European Pentecostal Theological Association 19 (1999), pp. 17- 33.</p>
<p>137 also ’the last ones’. Or stated differently: ’There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female...in Christ Jesus’ (Gal. 3.28). For the believers in the Pauline churches neither independence nor self-realization was the main tenor, but the experience of mutual dependence and one’s need for completion. Such an experience has immediate implications for the social structure of a group. If slaves experience that they are as needed as their lords, that they contribute as much to the community life as free ones, then the commonly known structures of society are relativized and people are given their dignity regardless of their education, gender and/or social background. They are no longer insignificant and powerless. Such a reversal of commonly accepted social structures is best reflected in the rhetoric of the letter to Philemon. The Social-Critical Roots of Pentecostalism Much research has been done on this issue, and it may suffice here to note that what is true for the Lukan writings is also true for the beginnings of Pentecostalism. The manifestations of the Spirit overcame gender,2° racial and social barriers,2’ not only in 1907 in Los Angeles but also in Latin America,22 Korea, 21 South Africa,24 and in general. 21 These examples illustrate that a pneumatological spirituality overthrows the generally accepted social structures of worth and influence and that it 20. J.E. Powers, ’"Your Daughters Shall Prophesey": Pentecostal Hermeneutics and the Empowerment of Women’, in M.W. Dempster, B.D. Klaus and D. Peterson (eds.), Globalization of Pentecostalism: A Religion Made to Travel (Oxford: Regnum Books, 1999), pp. 313-37. 21. Cf. W.J. Hollenweger, Pentecostalism: Origins and Development Worldwide (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1997). 22. Juan Sepúlveda, ’Indigenous Pentecostalism and the Chilean Experience’, in A. Anderson and W.J. Hollenweger (eds.), Pentecostals after a Century: Global Perspec- tives on a Movement in Transition (JPTSup, 5; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1999), pp. 111-34; E.L. Cleary, O.P., ’Latin American Pentecostalism’, Globalization of Pentecostalism, pp. 131-50. 23. Lee Hong Jong, ’Minjung and Pentecostal Movements in Korea’, in Pentecos- tals after a Century, pp. 138-60. 24. Allen Anderson, ’Dangerous Memories for South African Pentecostals’, Pentecostals after a Century, S. 67-86. However, cf. also the experience of Frank Chikane: ’Rebuilding a Broken Society, an Interview with Frank Chikane’, Theology, News and Notes from Fuller Theological Seminary (Spring 2001), pp. 20-27. 25. Cheryl Bridges Johns, Pentecostal Formation: A Pedagogy among the Opressed (JPTSup, 2; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1993).</p>
<p>138 has an inclusive, reconciling effect. The current tendency among Pente- costals and Charismatics constantly to split is in painful contradiction both to their ’pneumatological hobby horse’-the Lukan writings-and to their own history. This may not mean that, at the local level, this inclusive effect and the social relevance are entirely lost; they are still testified to in many places. As such, Pentecostalism could be compared with Matthew’s portrait of Peter: in both are dwelling concurrently great Spirit-revealed insights and moments of human self-interest (Mt. 16.13-23). A Relevant Political/Social Pneumatological Spiritzcality in Western Europe As mentioned above, Pentecostalism in Western Europe currently experi- ences community-forming power of the Spirit that redefines the classical Western values, such as success, worth, strength, self-sufficiency, individ- ual freedom26 and beauty. In these Spirit manifestations the generally accepted rules for the ’social game’ are often nullified. Yet Pentecostalism in Western Europe also experiences divisions and the confirmation of the social and political status quo. Despite the fact that Pentecostals constantly experience how the Spirit topples the social rules instituted by the success- ful, the beautiful and the powerful ones, such manifestations of the Spirit do not always give birth to a contrasting society. On the other hand, such experiences only further demonstrate the need for the theocentric outlook of a pneumatological spirituality. God the ruler and creator of all there is can sovereignly assert himself against this world order as established by the dominating consciousness of a society. Such experiences can free Pentecostals from their commonly felt political and/ or social powerlessness, and from the sense of political indifference present among many in the West, since they have access to the ultimate ruler of this world who has decided to grant his favour to the poor, the powerless and marginalized ones. Pentecostals do not base their political importance on the force or logical coherence of their argument but on their experience of God. God, the Lord of this world, cares for them in a holistic way. Pentecostals can discuss with him all their concerns, be they of social or political nature, related to their health or the politics of their country, or to any other aspect of their life. 26. It is unfortunate that the Western concept of freedom is often confused with Christian freedom. The former seems to be more profit oriented and based on personal interest whereas the latter is more community oriented.</p>
<p>139 However, the following letter seems to express an experience not unique for many Western European Pentecostals concerned with the political and/ or social issues of our days. The author, responding to the book by Shaull and Cesar,27 writes: I also believe that God is taking side with the poor. Therefore I am writing letters to be published in the local newspaper, letters mainly dealing with unemployment and poverty in Germany. At the same time I am a member of the local Pentecostal church that already existed prior to the Third Reich... And there I hear the pastor preaching: ’it is not important how often your name is written in the newspaper but that your name is written in the book of life. You will always have poor ones’.28 There may be various reasons for Western Europeans not to associate their faith with the political and/or social issues of their time, and this in spite of their own history and of many biblical texts so dear to them. The following observations may explain in part this apolitical attitude. First, that Pentecostals may not be aware of the political/social relevance of their spirituality does not yet mean that such relevance is not actual. One reason for Pentecostals not being aware of the political relevance of their faith may be that God is not so much ’systematically studied’ among them but rather encountered. Their longing to encounter God supersedes their need to reflect and analyse such experiences. Thus, the primary means for Pentecostal theologizing is the testimony and not theses, arguements, or abstract analyses. In addition; there has been a disillusionment among many politically involved Christians in Western Europe who operated predomi- nantly with manifestos and public declarations. The effect of such work has not met the expectations accompanying it, or, in the words of Julio de Santa Ana at the Ecumenical Association of Third-World Theologians (EATWOT) conference in Bossey: ’Liberation theology has called for an option for the poor, but the poor have opted for Pentecostalism’.29 Second, Pentecostal spirituality is theocentric in its outlook, and its social/political relevance is drawn from an eschatological orientation and its anticipation of the kingdom of God. Thus, Pentecostal practice, thinking and feeling is shaped by the expectation of this kingdom, and quite often 27. For an appraisal of the social relevance of a pneumatological spirituality of the charismatic/pentecostal churches in Brazil, without explicitly addressing such issues, cf. Shaull and Cesar, Pentecostalism and the Future of the Christian Churches. 28. Letter from W. Leucht, published in Unterwegs 2 (20011), p. 40. 29. Quoted according to R. von Sinner, ’Streiflichter’, Zeitschrift für Mission 26 (2000), pp. 313-18 (317).</p>
<p>140 these can produce actions, the positive political import of which may not even be perceived. This is not necessarily a problem, for the people in Jesus’ parable in Mt. 25.31-46 were likewise unaware of the social and theological ramifications of their acts. Hence, for Pentecostals many acts of mercy as well as the concern for justice may be rooted more in their passion for the kingdom of God, in love and in hope, than in political considerations. For Pentecostals political considerations may be more or less evident but not decisive for what they are doing. Decisive for their acts is what is in accordance with the kingdom of God. Third, however, there is a pitfall to this orientation: ’what is in accor- dance with the kingdom of God’ is always a matter of interpretation, and thus a Western European definition thereof seems to differ significantly from a Latin American or a black South African one. It seems that many Western European Pentecostals have adopted a typical Western individu- alistic definition of the kingdom of God and of sin. They deserve H.R. Niebuhr’s indictment against the twentieth-century middle-class church in which ’the problem of personal sin is far more urgent...than is the prob- lem of social redemption’, and where the church’s ’conception of heaven in which individual felicity is guaranteed is much more important than the millenial hope of the poor man’s faith,.30 Fourth, this more individualized, middle-class definition of the kingdom of God parallels a shift in Pentecostal theology from a more oral, testi- mony-based theology to an evangelical, if not fundamentalist approach to theology.&dquo; Especially in the USA the fundamentalists of the 1940s and 50s were in explicit opposition to the ’social Gospel’. In order to distance oneself from these ’liberals’, Pentecostals gave up much of the social power inherent in their spirituality. What Do we Do with these Observations? First, it may be needed for Pentecostals in Western Europe to rediscover their heritage and explicitly to point out the social and political relevance of their own distinctive experience of God rather than try to present an evangelical definition of their faith. 30. H.R. Niebuhr, The Social Sources of Denominationalism (Hamden: Shoe String, 1954), p. 82. 31. Cf. Veli-Mätti Kärkäainen, ’ Pentecostal Hermeneutics in the Making: On the Way from Fundamentalism to Postmodemism’, JEPTA 18 (2001), pp. 76-115.</p>
<p>141 Second, we also need to tackle our definition of the kingdom of God and our oftentimes one-sided, other-worldly, individualistic definition of salva- tion, freedom, peace and justice.32 Third, we need not be afraid of a this-worldly dimension of our spiritu- ality, for our Lord himself did not project salvation, freedom, peace and justice only as an other-worldly reality. Salvation has come ’today’ to the excluded tax collector (Lk. 19.1-10), and every healing has changed not only the physical condition of the person healed but also her or his social status.33 Or, when talking about Christ being our peace (Eph. 2.14), the biblical author seems not to speak of simple ’inner peace’, but of a recon- ciliation between those who have been near and those who have been far. This peace includes a socio-economic dimension and is not mere ’inward tranquillity’ . Fourth, we need not be afraid of our communitarian emphasis, for West- ern individualism has led to loneliness and the inability to struggle together through conflicts-some of the primary problems in our society. At the same time Western European Pentecostals have to find ways and categories to live and express our communion and solidarity with the oppressed, disfranchised and the poor of this world. We have to be truly ecumenical. Fifth, if we take seriously the role of the Spirit in creation, we cannot be quiet anymore regarding ecological exploitation, and so we must develop an economic theory that is ’not grieving the Spirit’. Sixth, if we seriously believe that our prince of peace is the Spirit- anointed messiah, we cannot opt for any form of violence to resolve this world’s problems. It is difficult to imagine the Spirit of peace (Rom. 8.6; Gal. 5.22) establishing the kingdom of God in peace and justice (Rom. 14.17) simply by having more bombs and better weapons than the oppo- nents. The way to the realisation of God’s eschatological reign will always reflect the qualities of the kingdom to come. 32. For a discussion of the Spirit’s ’brooding’ and signs of the reign of God from an Hispanic-American perspective, cf. Villafañe, Liberating Spirit, pp. 182-91. He calls for discerning ’the Spirit’s work not only in the church, the community of the Spirit, but in the world’ (p. 191). For a pneumatological approach that does account explicitly for ’the external evidence’ of the Spirit, cf. Horst Georg Pöhlmann, Heiliger Geist — Gottesgeist, Zeitgeist oder Weltgeist? (Neukirchen—Vluyn: F. Bahn, 1998). 33. Cf. L.T. Johnson, ’The Social Dimension of Sōtēria in Luke-Acts’, in E.H. Lovering (ed.) Society of Biblical Literature 1993 Seminar Paper (SBL, 129; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1981), pp. 520-36.</p>
<p>142 Seventh and last, but not least, Pentecostals in Western Europe have to come to terms with the fact that opposing social injustice and going against the dominant consciousness of our society is not simply ’politically cor- rect’ (or incorrect) nor just ‘trendy’, but a matter of obeying the Spirit.34 To go against the Spirit on these matters may be nothing less than to test God (Acts 15.10). Thus, a pneumatological criticism of our Western society’s values and norms, along with its capitalism, is nurtured by a passion for the Spirit-anointed messiah and the kingdom of God. It will create a contrast society that no longer uncritically reflects such typical Western European values as wealth, strength, success, beauty, self-sufficiency and individual freedom. 34. Cf. Villafañe, Liberating Spirit, pp. 169-81.</p>
</body></article></istex:document></istex:metadataXml><mods version="3.6"><titleInfo><title>The Holy Spirit as Transforming Power Within a Society: Pneumatological Spirituality and Its Political/Social Relevance for Western Europe</title></titleInfo><titleInfo type="alternative" contentType="CDATA"><title>The Holy Spirit as Transforming Power Within a Society: Pneumatological Spirituality and Its Political/Social Relevance for Western Europe</title></titleInfo><name type="personal"><namePart type="given">Matthias</namePart><namePart type="family">Wenk</namePart></name><typeOfResource>text</typeOfResource><genre type="research-article" displayLabel="research-article"></genre><originInfo><publisher>BRILL</publisher><place><placeTerm type="text">The Netherlands</placeTerm></place><dateIssued encoding="w3cdtf">2002</dateIssued><dateCreated encoding="w3cdtf">2002</dateCreated><copyrightDate encoding="w3cdtf">2002</copyrightDate></originInfo><language><languageTerm type="code" authority="iso639-2b">eng</languageTerm><languageTerm type="code" authority="rfc3066">en</languageTerm></language><physicalDescription><internetMediaType>text/html</internetMediaType></physicalDescription><relatedItem type="host"><titleInfo><title>Journal of Pentecostal Theology</title></titleInfo><titleInfo type="abbreviated"><title>PENT</title></titleInfo><genre type="Journal">journal</genre><identifier type="ISSN">0966-7369</identifier><identifier type="eISSN">1745-5251</identifier><part><date>2002</date><detail type="volume"><caption>vol.</caption><number>11</number></detail><detail type="issue"><caption>no.</caption><number>1</number></detail><extent unit="pages"><start>130</start><end>142</end></extent></part></relatedItem><identifier type="istex">A32F9C4036F2DBB3E14954CA4F284A6F80347051</identifier><identifier type="DOI">10.1177/096673690201100109</identifier><identifier type="href">17455251_011_01_s009_text.pdf</identifier><accessCondition type="use and reproduction" contentType="copyright">© 2002 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands</accessCondition><recordInfo><recordContentSource>BRILL Journals</recordContentSource><recordOrigin>Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands</recordOrigin></recordInfo></mods></metadata><serie></serie></istex></record>Pour manipuler ce document sous Unix (Dilib)
EXPLOR_STEP=$WICRI_ROOT/Wicri/Musique/explor/MagnificatV1/Data/Istex/Corpus
HfdSelect -h $EXPLOR_STEP/biblio.hfd -nk 000A81 | SxmlIndent | more
Ou
HfdSelect -h $EXPLOR_AREA/Data/Istex/Corpus/biblio.hfd -nk 000A81 | SxmlIndent | more
Pour mettre un lien sur cette page dans le réseau Wicri
{{Explor lien
|wiki= Wicri/Musique
|area= MagnificatV1
|flux= Istex
|étape= Corpus
|type= RBID
|clé= ISTEX:A32F9C4036F2DBB3E14954CA4F284A6F80347051
|texte= The Holy Spirit as Transforming Power Within a Society: Pneumatological Spirituality and Its Political/Social Relevance for Western Europe
}}
| This area was generated with Dilib version V0.6.31. |  |