“I think that the emerging church is - perhaps without always realizing it! - groping its way towards a broader understanding of the nature of the Spirit’s presence in the community.” - Andrew

This is exactly what I am driving at and hoping to somehow formulate an idea concerning a Pneumatology within the Emerging Church. In light of the last century, it is hard to imagine that the emerging church would revert away from Charismatic/Pentecostal teaching concerning the manifestation of the Spirit as is common in charismatic circles; or better said, it is hard to imagine that this is a wise road to travel down.

“This is not particularly approached from an emerging church perspective, but I think it does reflect current uncertainty about how we integrate a charismatic theology into the wider creational and creative agenda.” - Andrew

After reading several different authors in the Emerging movement, it would seem that this is a plausible understanding of the role of the Spirit in culture. Contrasted with current charismatic understanding, the Spirit would not so much as manifest in Supernatural ways, but rather in some creative fashion or form. It somewhat reminds me of certain interpretations of the gifts in some of the early church fathers who compared certain gifts with sacramental ordinances.

So I am hoping for this post to open up certain discussion concerning the role of the Holy Spirit, including manifestations, such as tongues, prophecy, gifts of service, and the like, which are predominent, even expected in churches all over the world. These realities (prophecy, word of wisdom, miracles, etc…), focused so heavily upon within the charismatic movement as attesting to the reality of the Spirit of God dwelling within the community are, I believe, essential for the Charismatic life of the church (I am not pushing for adherence to a particular movement by any means). So my question is, what is a Pneumatology for the Emerging Church concerning the manifestations of the Spirit and the role of creativity within the culture as being inspired by the Spirit?

Hopefully this helps to spark some discussion for this thread.

The French