David Tonghou Ngong traces the development of a Christian theology of the Spirit in Africa, beginning with the North African theologians. He, along with other African Christians, wants the global church to remember that the most significant trinitarian reflection came out of North Africa. He urges that the African church move beyond simply emphasizing the function of the Holy Spirit to examining the place of the Spirit in the Trinity, as did the early North African theologians. Ngong reflects on the Pentecostalization of African Christianity with its concomitant emphasis on pneumatology. He wants to draw together Nicea and contemporary African theology while at the same time rejecting Western Enlightenment rationalism. As part of this concern, Ngong notes that African cosmology is not otherworldly but deeply connected with life as it is lived here and now. For him, theology is worked out on the road of life but this does not divorce him from the Nicene Creed. In his discussion of African spirituality, he focuses on experience through the power of the Spirit and the transformative function of the Spirit. He emphasizes the belief in the existence of spirits and notes that it is not a superstition but rather a reality that can only be confronted via the power of the Spirit through Jesus Christ. Moreover, spirituality is not simply a question of the believer’s individual life but for the community and, indeed, the whole of society. Human flourishing that comes through the Spirit is communal and is connected to threats to its survival. His chapter ends with a question about religious pluralism in Africa, a theme taken up by García-Johnson as well.
Oscar García-Johnson pens what will be, for many readers of this volume, one of the most challenging chapters. Western theology commonly reflects on general and special revelation, with its overriding emphasis being on God’s revelation through Christ and Scripture. But the affirmation of general revelation brings with it entailments not often discussed in the West. Within African Christianity the question often arises: “Did God bring the missionaries to Africa, or did the missionaries bring God?” If we respond that God brought the missionaries to Africa, the question becomes: “Where, then, was God before the missionaries came?” García-Johnson presses the question within the frame of colonial theology. Was there a presence of the Spirit in the Americas before the colonial era? In answering the question, he moves toward seeing the Spirit outside the gate and, in doing so, wishes to uncover an indigenous theology of the Spirit. He reminds us of Melchizedek, Abraham, Balaam, and Paul’s quotation of a Greek poet at the Athenian Areopagus (Acts 17) as he tries to trace out the “pneumatological continuity” between the pre-conquest and post-conquest communities of the Americas.
García-Johnson takes a journey into ancestral folk traditions in the Americas. While he does not examine theological trends within contemporary indigenous communities in Central and South America, this could well be a further stage of reflection. While objecting to the West being the locus theologicus par excellence, he affirms the Nicene Creed since “early Christian teachers emphasize the Spirit as a Revealer and Giver of Life.” The concern expressed here is one every reader needs to take with the utmost seriousness. Does the gospel come into culture as an alien entity, or has God prepared the way, given perspectives, and raised expectations, which are then fulfilled in the gospel? The colonial mentality is one that see the gospel as a conquering and pulverizing force over indigenous peoples and beliefs. The consequence of this perspective has been the devastation of indigenous communities across the Americas, which lost life, land, and culture due to misconceived notions of Christian mission. García-Johnson, as a Central American, pushes back against that heritage and attempts to re-envisage the wideness of God’s agency while not losing hold of Christ and his centrality.
The final chapter of this anthology comes from one of the senior statesmen of Majority World theology, C. René Padilla. Since the first Lausanne Conference in 1974, Padilla has been a leader in the development of Latin American evangelical theology. That theology, which developed parallel to and is not derivative from liberation theology, places special emphasis on misión integral (integral mission). The gospel of Christ is the in-breaking of the kingdom, or the rule of God through both word and deed. As such, the gospel is transformative not only for the life of the individual or the gathered community of believers, but also for society as a whole. In his chapter, Padilla emphasizes the work of the Spirit “as the source of power for life and hope, especially among the poor.” The experience of the Spirit in Latin America, mostly among Pentecostals, occurs in the midst of deep poverty and social oppression. “The mission of the Messiah in the power of the Spirit,” Padilla states, “is oriented toward the most vulnerable persons in society: the poor, the prisoners, the blind, the oppressed.” So radical was Jesus’s ministry among these people that the socioeconomic changes were big enough to be regarded as signs of “the coming of a new era of justice and peace—‘the year of the Lord’s favor,’ the Jubilee year (cf. Leviticus 25)—a metaphor of the messianic era initiated in history by Jesus Christ.” Those who are swept up by the wind of the Spirit become part of an “empowered, transnational, multilinguistic, intercultural movement for justice.” The Spirit empowers the church and allows it “to experience the kingdom of God as a present reality.” The values of the kingdom are here present in history in anticipation of that final day when all will be complete.
The authors of these chapters take us on the journey of the Spirit whose workings are wider than the individual heart. Issues of community and relationality are paramount, often stemming from the relational dimension of the Trinity. The community where the Spirit works is not only the church but also the wider society, both before and after the coming of the gospel. The Holy Spirit is not antithetical to culture, as he both critiques and affirms. Each of these authors deeply appreciates the heritage of Nicea but understands that the Spirit is restless. There is work to be done in the world, healing and redemptive work, that began in the first moments of creation and continues in the present out to the eschaton. The Spirit was, and is, and will be over all the earth.
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This book, along with the other volumes in the Majority World Theology series, is the product of a strong community effort to facilitate the discussion about emerging Majority World perspectives in biblical studies and theology. We want to thank the authors for their literary contribution and for their willingness to gather in San Diego in November 2014 for the annual meetings of the Evangelical Theological Society and the Institute for Biblical Research (unfortunately, Ngewa and Satyavrata were unable to attend). We are all indebted to the Rivendell Steward’s Trust, ScholarLeaders International, and the SEED Research Institute for their financial support and tremendous encouragement. Many of the scholars could not have attended these gatherings without the gracious help these agencies offered. Thanks also goes out to the leadership of the Evangelical Theological Society and the Institute for Biblical Research for creating space for this important discussion about pneumatology. Michael Thomson of Eerdmans has been an indefatigable supporter and counselor all along the way, and, once again, we tip our hats to him. Thanks are also due to Langham Partnership International and Langham Literature for supporting the global publication and distribution of the Majority World Theology series. Pieter Kwant of Langham Literature has been an energetic ally and we offer him our thanks. Jessica Hawthorne, teaching assistant extraordinaire, prepared the indices. We are all indebted to her. And, as always, we are grateful to God for his answers to prayers so that this global project could move forward.