Theology : Systematic Theology / Dogmatics: Holy Spirit - Person in the Trinity

One of the world's most creative theologians reflects on the role of the Holy Spirit in the birth of the cosmos, in humanity, in religion, in life of the church, and in the hopes and struggles of the poor. The presence of the Holy Spirit runs throughout the scriptures, from the story of Creation, through the inspiration of the prophets. It filled Mary, resulting in the birth of Jesus, and it inspired his mission. It was released in the church of the feast of Pentecost. But as Leonardo Boff shows, the presence of the Spirit is interwoven in the mysterious origins of the universe. And that Spirit continues to be revealed through the history of humanity--in the spirit of renewal, change, and prophecy, in the history of the church and the struggles of our own time. For Boff, this theme-- the fruit of a lifetime of reflection--takes on special urgency in a time of ecological peril, religious conflict, and oppression of the poor. For when the Spirit comes, "the corpses are filled with life and the wilderness becomes a garden. The poor are granted justice, the sick are restored to health, and we who are all sinners receive forgiveness and grace. This is our faith, and more than that, it is our undying hope."

Najeeb Awad aims at defending the personhood of the Holy Spirit by proposing answers to these questions: What is the Holy Spirit in relation to God? Is He a spirit-like presence of a monistic deity; is He merely a charismatic, supernatural power bestowed upon Jesus; or is He rather the third divine person in the Trinity, who is co-influential in and co-constitutive of the Godhead? The author re-examines the validity of both Western and Eastern trinitarian theologies and corrects their reduction of the Spirit either to a mere 'relationship' or 'mode of presence', or to a semi-subordinate hypostasis in a hierarchical divine Godhead that exists by virtue of the Father alone . He argues that viewing the Godhead as a 'reciprocal koinonia' offers a balanced attention to the Spirit's person and actions. He then shows that the claim of the Holy Spirit's particular personhood provides new dimensions for understanding God's unfathomable and mysterious personal being.