The Spirit and the People of God (BN9711W)

Postgraduate, 24.0 points

Content

This unit will examine the role of the Holy Spirit in the life and mission of the early church in the Greco-Roman world. The students will study key passages in the New Testament, especially John’s Gospel, Acts and Paul’s letters concerning the work of the Spirit in the Christian communities. Special attention will be given to the Spirit-Paraclete in the Johannine Farewell Discourse, the Spirit-orchestrated multicultural Jesus-communities in Acts and the Spirit-empowered body of Christ in Pauline literature. The unit will investigate the function and the power of the Spirit in the ongoing transformation of individual Christ-followers, as well as the identity-formation and the mission of the multicultural Jesus-communities in the Roman Empire.

Unit code: BN9711W

Unit status: Approved (Major revision)

Points: 24.0

Unit level: Postgraduate Elective

Unit discipline: New Testament

Delivery Mode: Online

Proposing College: Whitley College

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Learning outcomes

1.

Articulate the role of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament, especially in John’s Gospel, Acts, and the Pauline corpus.
2.

Critically analyse specified New Testament texts on the Holy Spirit within their own rhetorical and socio-historical contexts
3.

Identify and articulate the work of the Spirit regarding the formation of early Christian communities in the New Testament, as well as the identity and transformation of Jesus-followers in the Greco-Roman world.
4.

Reflect critically on the contribution of the NT literature to understanding the work of the Spirit in the life and mission of the church today.
5.

Critically evaluate the contemporary practice of mission in the light of the approaches of the New Testament writers

Pedagogy

Interaction with online resources, including peer discussion, lectures (audio and/or visual), lecture notes, readings

Indicative Bibliography

  • Augustine, Daniela C. The Spirit and the Common Good: Shared Flourishing in the Image of God. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2019.
  • Brown, Tricia Gates. Spirit in the Writings of John: Johannine Pneumatology in Social-Scientific Perspective. London: T & T Clark, 2004.
  • Burge, Gary M. The Anointed Community: The Holy Spirit in the Johannine Tradition. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1987.
  • Fee, Gordon D. God’s Empowering Presence: The Holy Spirit in the Letters of Paul. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2009.
  • Green, Gene L., Stephen T. Pardue and K. K. Yeo. The Spirit over the Earth: Pneumatology in the Majority World. Carlilse: Langham Global Library, 2016.
  • Kuecker, Aaron J. The Spirit and the ‘Other’: Social Identity, Ethnicity and Intergroup Reconciliation in Luke-Acts. London: T & T Clark, 2011.
  • Keener, Craig S. The Mind of the Spirit: Paul's Approach to Transformed Thinking. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2016.
  • Levison, John R. Filled with the Spirit. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2009.
  • Rabens, Volker. The Holy Spirit and Ethics in Paul: Transformation and Empowering for Religious-Ethical Life. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 2014.
  • Thiselton, Anthony C. The Holy Spirit: In Biblical Teaching, through the Centuries, and Today. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2013.
  • Twelftree, Graham H. People of the Spirit: Exploring Luke's View of the Church. London: SPCK, 2009.
  • Yong, Amos. Hospitality and the Other: Pentecost, Christian Practices, and the Neighbor: Pentecost, Christian Practices and the Neighbour. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2015.

Assessment

Type Description Word count Weight (%)
Essay

3,250-word thematic essay

 3250 40.0
Essay

3,500-word exegetical essay

 3500 40.0
Seminar or Tutorial

Online tutorial participation (at least five entries of approximately 200 words each) responding to set readings and peer interaction

 1250 20.0
Approvals

Unit approved for the University of Divinity by Maggie Kappelhoff on 2 Sep, 2021

Unit record last updated: 2021-09-02 12:01:55 +1000