The Power and Spirit of God:

A Reapplication of the Role of

the Holy Spirit Towards an
Experience-based
Pneumatology
A
A Thesis
Thesis Presented
Presented to
to the
the Faculty
Faculty of
of the
the Graduate
Graduate School
School
CICM
CICM Maryhill
Maryhill School
School of
of Theology
Theology

by
by
Randy
Randy L.
L. Leonardo
Leonardo

June
June 24,
24, 2019
2019
 Come Holy Spirit,
fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the
fire of your love.
Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created.
And You shall renew the face of the earth.

O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit,

did instruct the hearts of the faithful,
grant that by the same Holy Spirit
we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations,
Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.
Outline of the Thesis Presentation

I. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

II. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
III.SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
IV.SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS
V. METHODOLOGY
VI.FINDINGS/RECOMMENDATIONS
VII.A PERSONAL DISCOURSE
 Thesis Title:

The Power and Spirit of God:

A Reapplication of the Role of the
Holy Spirit Towards an
Experience-based Pneumatology
 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
o lo g y
i n th e
Books
STATEMENT
OF THE
1
Who is the Holy Spirit? What is the
PROBLEM identity of the Holy Spirit in the
Scriptures and in the Vatican II?

2 What is the role of the Holy Spirit

in the economy of salvation?

3
What is the experienced-based pneumatology of
Bernard Cooke? How can we integrate experience-
based pneumatology to Catholic theology of the
Holy Spirit?
SIGNIFICANCE

1
A humble attempt to escalate the
extent of the studies given to the
OF subject of pneumatology, hence, the
THE STUDY significance and relevant connection to
lived experience.

2
An enrichment to the ‘limited’ research and reflection in
the institution by contributing to the existing repository
of knowledge, by exploring paradigms appropriate to the
signs of the times.

3 An updating of the knowledge on the subject of

pneumatology which can be a reference to ‘seasoned’
pastors in educating Catholics.
 SCOPE
AND
LIMITATIONS

The research focus is on the key concepts of pneumatology of

in the Scriptures and under the Vatican II Council. It includes
contemporary Orthodox Christian authors since their study of the
Holy Spirit is more extensive. Moreover, the research dwells more
on the perspective of contemporary theologians, including
feminists views. The research also attempts to identify the unique
mission of the Holy Spirit in connection with the established
doctrine and theological assumptions. The Filipino (Asian)
perspective on the Holy Spirit is however limited but an
enrichment to the classical doctrine.
 RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY

The research method combines heuristic

inquiry and hermeneutic approach as a
qualitative approach to theological studies.
RESEARCH
FINDINGS

1. Vatican II’s teaching on faith and revelation

provides key shifts in pneumatology and recognizes
the need to advance the study given to the Holy
Spirit. There are numerous encyclicals and
conciliar documents under the second council but
most are directed towards the life of the Church in
general, therefore, impartial to the subject of
pneumatology.
RESEARCH
FINDINGS

2. The theology of the Holy Spirit, by teaching is

understood in the light of the relational Trinity but
remains to be a perennial problem since the first
Council and is theologically conceptualized in an
impersonal language of the Scripture. Hence, the
doctrine remains to be a ‘high theology.’
RESEARCH
FINDINGS

3. Although it is true that the Church has provided us a

developed theology of the Spirit, the Second Vatican
Council’s affirmation on the need for a renewed study of
the doctrine is an on-going project of the Church. It is
also a valid claim that in the Western Christian tradition,
the theological topic on the Holy Spirit is essentially
overlooked or forgotten.
RESEARCH
FINDINGS

4. The doctrine of the Holy Spirit remains to be a

mystery to may Christians and a good reason why
the devotion to the Spirit is scarce despite its
sound doctrinal formulation.
RESEARCH
FINDINGS

5. The basic catechisms in community churches no longer

suffice to address the ‘un-widespread’ or the neglect on
the Spirit. There’s a need to go back ‘in the beginning’
which aligns the proper view of the work of the Spirit to
other theology. Thus, a challenge which presented as we
engage in a strenuous theological reflection grounded in
the trinitarian axiom.
RESEARCH
FINDINGS

6. Contemporary theology provides an underlying point to

make the Spirit knowable in the practice of faith today,
in a way that the dialogue between life and faith of
believers in the modern world must speak a common
language about the place of the Holy Spirit in salvation- a
paradigm shift that we must begin with the Spirit in
theologizing today to help Christianity to act its age, to
learn anew to understand itself and proceed to their
mission as agents of salvation.
RESEARCH
FINDINGS

7. Experience-Based pneumatology is a useful framework

and a paradigm shift to the current state of Catholic
pneumatology, given the Church’s lagging behind with the
Eastern church’s more advanced study on the subject of the
Holy Spirit. Though a ‘fragment’ that supplies to the
insufficiencies in terms of development, experience-based
pneumatology is a paradigm which creates a legitimate
openness to the universal church and the world, and thus
an initiation to the introduction of a secularized world
(theology) mentality and order of values.
A Personal Discourse (Recommendations)

The insufficient knowledge or awareness of the third

persona in the divine Trinity is not a misnomer. In the
continuing evangelizing tasks entrusted to the Church,
there is an even difficulty to address much deeper problems
over the ‘ordinary’ issues of faith in our time (such as
secularism, Protestantism, agnosticism, being called ‘half-
baked’ Catholics, etc.). Whether the hierarchical Church
recognizes the ‘forgetfulness of the Spirit’ or rejects the
idea of secular theology, this renewed interest in the
spiritual life presents some unique pastoral challenges.
A Personal Discourse (Recommendations)

In reading the ‘signs of the times’ which concerns the life

of the Church, we might also contemplate on the
‘ecclesiological breadth’ that gave the Holy Spirit’s place
in the ‘divine order.’ The way how the Spirit’s power
flows within the hierarchical Church is somehow
‘Earthbound.’
A Personal Discourse (Recommendations)

The theology of the Holy Spirit (must be essentially) is an

applied doctrine that focuses on God’s Spirit expressed in
servanthood which is also an imparting of Christ vocation
to humanity. Thus, the Spirit who truly is at work enable
the faithful to hear and respond to Christ’s living,
personal presence.
A Personal Discourse (Recommendations)