Pneuma 41 (2019) 512–517
Gifts of the Spirit and the Spirit as Gift? A Reformed Perspective
Nadia Marais
Faculty of Theology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa [email protected]
It is with appreciation that I write this reflection on the sixth report of the Roman Catholic–Pentecostal Dialogue.1 It does not offer a consensus position between two theological traditions, Catholic and (Classic) Pentecostal, but it does create the impression that the main distinction between Pentecostal and Catholic perspectives on the gifts of the Holy Spirit is a matter of theological emphasis, not outright dissent or disagreement. Already in the introduction it is explained that this report proceeds from the “common ground” and “com- mon concerns” between Catholics and Pentecostals (§3).
The focus of this report is the gift-giving work of the Holy Spirit. Various definitions of charisms in the church are provided throughout this report. Charisms are described both in the plural (“gifts of the Holy Spirit given to all believers”) (§10) and in the singular (“a gift to the entire Church”) (§14). In all of these descriptions the rhetoric of gift-giving is consistently employed. This is important when the theological implications of the logic of gift-giving—a logic that resonates deeply with and within Reformed and Protestant traditions—is considered.2
1 Report of the Sixth Phase of the International Roman Catholic-Pentecostal Dialogue (2011–
2015), entitled “Do Not Quench the Spirit: Charisma in the Life and Mission of the Church”
(2019). Available at http://vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/
pentecostals/rc_pc_chrstuni_doc_2011‑2015_do‑not‑quench‑the‑spirit_en.html, accessed
March 1, 2018.
2 See for instance the well-known essay by John Milbank, entitled “Can a Gift Be Given? Pro-
legomena to a Future Trinitarian Metaphysic,” Modern Theology 11, no. 1 (January 1995). A
number of theologians have since responded to this essay, including the Lutheran theolo-
gian Risto Saarinen (“Forgiveness, the Gift, and Ecclesiology,”Dialog: A Journal of Theology45,
no. 1 (Spring 2006): 55–62), the Anglican theologian Sarah Coakley (“Why Gift? Gift, Gender
and Trinitarian Relations in Milbank and Tanner,”Scottish Journal of Theology61, no. 2 (2008):
224–235), and the Reformed theologian Todd Billings (“John Milbank’s Theology of the ‘Gift’
and Calvin’s Theology of Grace: A Critical Comparison,”Modern Theology 21, no. 1 (January
2005): 87–105).
© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/15700747-04103033
1
ecumenical reflections
513
Since this is a short reflection, I will get to the heart of the matter raised in this report. Already in its section on biblical foundations for charisms (§15– 20), the report indicates that Paul’s first Letter to the Corinthians presents a hermeneutical key to the theological interpretations of charisms described. The specific biblical reference is 1Corinthians 12 (with further explanation offered from 1Corinthians 14), from which the report borrows the Greek term charisma (§19). An important parenthesis indicates the etymological link betweencharisma(gifts) andcharis(grace) (§19).
The charisms are portrayed as (divine) gifts of the Holy Spirit that are given to the church, the sanctified and missional community of believers. The Holy Spirit is “the Giver of the gifts” that “endows believers with spiritual gifts for the building up of the body of Christ” (§26). The latter part of the report dis- tinguishes between (some) specific spiritual gifts, including prophecy, healing, and discernment (of spirits)—but ultimately emphasizes that although gifts are diverse, all gifts are “activated” by the Spirit (§75) and ultimately measured by the criterion of love or charity (here reference is made to 1Corinthians 13) (§74).
Some distinctions among these gifts are provided in this report, but arguably the most prominent distinction has to do with how the Spirit’s giftgiving works within the church: gifts can be either institutional or charismatic, for the Spirit may work in both established and spontaneous ways within the church (§27). The report also makes a notable distinction between gifts that are “more extraordinary” and gifts that are “more ordinary” (§11); yet, it is also careful not to provide an order of preference to the Spirit’s giftgiving, and opts instead for calling this difference a difference in “dimension” (§27). Although there may be tensions between the institutional dimension and spontaneous dimension of the Spirit’s giftgiving work, these two dimensions belong together in the church: they are “co-essential” and “complementary” (§27).
Charisms are portrayed as part of the ongoing work of sanctification (§§16–17, 24–25, 28, 48). Yet, it is a question whether the theological portrayals of grace, as provided in this report, hold together both sanctificationandjustifi- cation; both God’s gift(s)andGod’s grace.This report alludes to a shared rhetor- ical and theological logic in speaking about gifts and grace (§19), which the Reformers, including Martin Luther and John Calvin, have long held together.3 However, it is also a question whether there is not an important theological dis- tinction between gift and grace, particularly in the Pauline letters in the New
3 See, for instance, Stephen J. Chester,Reading Paul with the Reformers: Reconciling Old and New
Perspectives(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2017), 148–155.
Pneuma 41 (2019) 512–517
2
514
ecumenical reflections
Testament (and even more specifically in the Letter to the Romans). A number of theologians—Desiderius Erasmus, most notably, but also, following in his wake, such Reformers as Philip Melanchthon and Martin Luther—have ques- tioned the translation of Paul’s reference to “gift” as “grace” and maintained some rhetorical and theological distinctions between gift and grace.4
The report portrays God’s grace as giftlike, and God’s gifts as gracelike, but it does not clarify their relation. Does grace not precede the gifts—the charisms—that the report alludes to? Does God’s justifying grace not precede God’s sanctifying gifts to the church? What is needed to receive these gifts? Do we qualify for gifts—by living good, moral lives—so that giftgiving is meritori- ous, or are gifts given irrespective of human beings, because God is gracious?
An important, albeit short, theological affirmation regarding receptivity to the gifts of the Spirit is included in this report (§48). It is pointed out that “receptivity is a key element of receiving the Spirit” and that this involves “an attitude of openness and expectancy” toward receiving these gifts (§48). Yet the report mentions not only the receptivity toward gifts prior to receiving charisms, but also responsiveness to live in accordance with gifts after these are received—as “people of good character who live in a manner that corre- sponds to the gift” (§47).
The gifts that the church receives require both receptivity and responsive- ness, the report seems to suggest, in that both anticipation of the gifts (prior to the giving) and response to the gifts (after the giving) is required. This illus- trates the above point again: that the human end of the giftgiving interac- tion enjoys attention, but that the role or place or function of God’s eccen- tric grace5—the grace that comes to us unexpectedly and undeservedly, from outside of ourselves—in such giftgiving exchanges is not as clear. If charisms “equip believers to participate in God’s saving plan” (§9), how do we define such participation? What is the triune God’s role, and what is ours? I have since
4 Chester, Reading Paul, 151–153.
5 See David Kelsey’s Eccentric Existence: A Theological Anthropology (Louisville, KY: Westmin-
ster John Knox Press, 2009). He argues that God relates to human beings in a threefold
manner—bycreatingus,reconcilingus,anddrawingusintoeschatologicalconsummation—
and that it is exactly in this way that we exist eccentrically. If God’s grace does indeed
come to us eccentrically—from outside ourselves—statements such as the following do raise
the question of the relationship between justifying grace and sanctifying grace: “Although
charisms are available to all believers, they are operative when Christians rely upon the power
of the Holy Spirit to proclaim the gospel and to serve one another. Charisms manifest the cre-
ativity of the Spirit and are given generously and often beyond all expectations.” See “Do Not
Quench the Spirit,” §11.
Pneuma 41 (2019) 512–517
3
ecumenical reflections
515
wondered whether the deeper theological dilemma here is not sacramentality6 and the way sacramental grace is mediated to the graced community of believ- ers in the divine giftgiving exchange.7
An intriguing question raised by this report has to do with the Holy Spirit as Gift. The report deals at length with charisms as gifts given by the Spirit, but alludes only shortly to the Spirit who is also Given. The Spirit is “the Giver of the gifts” (§26).8 Yet, once the question regarding the whence of the Spirit is raised—who gives the Spirit?, or from where does the Spirit proceed?—the fil- ioque is again in view.9The report refers throughout to the Spirit as “the Spirit of God”—three times, to be precise (§16, 73 (and 78), 114)—but nowhere to the Spirit as “the Spirit of Christ.” The South African Reformed theologian Willie Jonker, in a book with this title—Die Gees van Christus(the Spirit of Christ)10— argues that for the Reformers (and John Calvin in particular) the Spirit is not contemplated apart from Christ, the Word, and that the Spirit takes and shares only from what belongs to the person and work of Christ, nothing more.11The German Reformed theologian MichaelWelker emphasizes that this Spirit—the
6
7
8
9
10
11
See the recently published Report of the Fourth Phase of the Catholic-Reformed Dia- logue (2011–2015), entitled “Justification and Sacramentality: The Christian Community as an Agent for Justice” (2017). Available at http://vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical _councils/
chrstuni/alliance‑reform‑docs/rc_pc_chrstuni_doc_20171130_fourth‑phase‑dialogue_en .html, accessed January 10, 2019. Pope Francis also referred to this report when he received a delegation from the World Communion of Reformed Churches on June 10, 2016 (see “Do Not Quench the Spirit”, 22).
The report describes “the sacred” as a key part of the church’s witness in a culture that val- ues individualism, materialism, and secularism. Here the perceived longing of people for the sacred is associated with “that which transcends this world so as to discover a deeper meaning and purpose to their lives.” See “Do Not Quench the Spirit,” §59. It is interesting to take note of Stephen Chester’s analysis of the Reformers’ interpretation(s) of infused and sacramental grace in this regard: he argues that “the Reformers constituted a recov- ery of Augustine, [but] here they broke decisively with him.” Chester, Reading Paul with the Reformers, 150.
In “The Letter of Pope Francis to the Coptic Orthodox Patriarch TawadrosIIon the Occa- sion of the Day of Friendship” (dated May 10, 2016), Pope Francis describes the Holy Spirit as “the mainspring and bearer of all gifts” (see “Do Not Quench the Spirit,” 21). For a more thoroughly worked-out argument in this regard, see also my contribution to the Pentecostal-Reformed Dialogue (2013–2018), entitled “Our Lord and Giver of Life? A Reformed Perspective on Pneumatology and Mission,” Cyberjournal for Pentecostal-Char- ismatic Research 24 (2016). Available: http://pctii.org/cyberj/cyberj24/marais.html, accessed 10 January 2019.
Willem D. Jonker, Die Gees van Christus, Wegwysers in die Dogmatiek 4 (Pretoria, South Africa:NGKerkboekhandel, 1981).
Jonker, Die Gees van Christus, 55–58.
Pneuma 41 (2019) 512–517
4
516
ecumenical reflections
Spirit that is “characterized by its connection to Jesus Christ”—is the “Spirit of Truth,” and therefore shapes churches into “truth-seeking communities.”12 The American Reformed theologian David Kelsey prioritizes a christological interpretation of grace—since “strictly speaking, ‘grace’ should be used in the singular in reference to Jesus Christ,” who is sent by the Father in the power of the Spirit.13 A Reformed reader may therefore have some cause to wonder about the apparent silence in this report regarding the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Christ.
Finally, Protestant interpreters have pointed out that the Spirit does not only give gifts, but is itself given as a gift to the church.14 This has important implications for “the exegetical grammar” of gifts and grace(s), since it posits a particular theological logic in speaking about charisms: if “grace is the indis- pensable basis of the divine gift … but not itself to be identified with this gift,” then “grace sustains the Christian precisely because it remains external and total.”15 As Stephen Chester has pointed out in his book Reading Paul with the Reformers, “gift” and “grace”—albeit closely connected—are not necessarily synonymous:
Grace motivates divine gift and assuredly leads to gift, but is not itself the gift and, unlike gift, remains as something in God and not in human beings.16
Can we speak theologically about gifts if we do not also speak about grace? And if we speak about grace—a grace that the church does not possess and cannot dispense, but can only ever receive—is it possible for us not to speak about the flourishing of all human beings and the whole earth? And if we speak about
12
13 14
15 16
Michael Welker, “The Spirit in Philosophical, Theological, and Interdisciplinary Perspec- tives,” in The Work of the Spirit: Pneumatology and Pentecostalism, ed. Michael Welker (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006), 221–232 (see 231 in particular). See also Michael Welker’s God the Spirit, trans. John F. Hoffmeyer (Eugene,OR: Wipf & Stock, 2013).
Kelsey, Eccentric Existence, 619–623.
For instance, Philipp Melanchthon “understood the gift in Rom 5:15 as the Holy Spirit,” and his theological distinction between gift and grace would shift (Protestant) theologi- cal interpretation of giftgiving from “grace as infused” to “grace as favor.” Martin Luther’s interpretation of grace shifted by 1521, argues Stephen Chester, and “[t]he flow of influence was from Erasmus to Melanchthon to Luther.” For Martin Luther, “despite the simultane- ity and mutuality of grace and gift,” “it is grace that has the conceptual priority for Luther because the gift comes to human beings rooted in the grace of Christ.” See Chester, Read- ing Paul with the Reformers, 154 (including n. 57).
Chester, Reading Paul with the Reformers, 170–171.
Chester, Reading Paul with the Reformers, 152.
Pneuma 41 (2019) 512–517
5
ecumenical reflections
517
flourishing, can we neglect the cries for life (of strangers, of refugees, of the poor, of women, of children, of the LGBTQI+ community, of indigenous peo- ples) by the very grace and gift(s) that we ourselves receive abundantly from God?
If our gifts are rooted in grace, and are therefore given without discrimina- tion—including the terms and conditions that we may prefer to attach to such giftgiving in the church—the community of the gifted may ultimately include those persons we would rather not have in church with us. Since the gifts that we receive come from outside of us, from the triune God, this may very well require of the giftgiven community to embrace those unwelcome and unwanted in our world and in our churches. If we issue a call to not quench the Spirit we may have to reckon with the radical grace of Jesus Christ, which may reform the church’s life and mission in ways that we may not prefer and cannot control. May we nevertheless remain committed to not quenching the Spirit—God’s Gift that gives us life and that bears fruit in us.
Pneuma 41 (2019) 512–517
6
Leave a Reply