Spirit Christology and Mission

It is largely acknowledged throughout the Western church that we now face various crises. Shrinking numbers and an increasingly secular society has led the church to face new questions. How do we conduct mission in post-Christendom Europe; how do we communicate the gospel in ways that will be meaningful to our hearers? In this thesis I contend that an effective model for mission in post-Christendom Europe will be a dialogical model of mission based on a theology of incarnation and anointing. Using Spirit Christology as a dogmatic foundation and drawing primarily on the work of Ralph Del Colle among others, I explore what it might mean to be effective witnesses to Jesus Christ in contemporary society. In recent years Spirit Christology has become a Christological perspective adopted by a number of theologians seeking to articulate a greater role for the Holy Spirit in our understanding of the person and work of Jesus Christ. It is still, however, a matter for considerable debate and discussion as to how exactly the relationship of Christ to the Spirit is to be understood. The dogmatic questions relating to this one issue, of the relation of Christ and the Spirit are numerous: the impact Spirit Christology has on models of the Trinity; the place of Logos Christology in relation to Spirit Christology; the Spirit and the doctrine of the two natures of Christ are just some. This thesis explores recent theological developments in Spirit Christology, focusing on orthodox Spirit Christologies from the Western tradition, with a view to discussing how it may serve as a dogmatic foundation for a theology of mission. I argue that Spirit Christology, with its dual emphasis on the missions of the Son and the Spirit in the world is perfectly placed to act as a doctrinal basis for a contemporary model of mission. In Part One I evaluate various proposals for a Spirit Christology, discussing some of the particular dogmatic issues in both Roman Catholic and Reformed Spirit Christologies, and highlighting some of the advantages for missiology that lie in a theology of the mutual, coinherent and reciprocal missions of Christ and the Spirit. The notion of the Spirit as the one who leads humanity back to the Father through the Son comes to the fore as the proper mission of the Spirit. I go on to discuss the way in which Spirit Christology, with its emphasis on the work of the Spirit in the humanity of Christ, becomes a model for us to understand the church’s existence and task as that of Spirit-filled humanity anointed to co-labour with God in his mission to the world. In Part Two, I discuss the question of mission, surveying first New Testament models of mission and then going on to consider various historical and contemporary models of mission, comparing them to a model of mission based on Spirit Christology. Throughout the thesis I highlight the numerous advantages of Spirit Christology for a theology of mission, developing a dialogical model based on the concepts of incarnation and anointing