A Review of Flame of Love: A Theology of the Holy Spirit

            The Fathers of the Church spent a great deal of time wrestling with issues of enormous theological concern.  It was vital for their faith and understanding to come to terms with the nature of the divine, and how the person of Jesus fit into their conception of the One God.  The results of their councils and deliberations have given to us a more complete understanding of the person and work of Christ, and how we can understand the Trinity.  Yet, it seems that their deliberations were left incomplete.  During the course of time, other issues became prevalent, with disagreements and schisms increasingly preventing productive corporate reflection.  Because of this we have been left with what some might call an incomplete theology.  While we have creeds and intricate considerations on the nature of the Father and Son, we lack a similar understanding of the role of the Spirit in the Trinity and in the world.  This is especially ironic on account of the Spirit seemingly being the Person which was revealed in a new way to the Church (cf. Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-8).   In his book Flame of Love, Clark Pinnock seeks to examine anew the role and person of the Holy Spirit.  He is not content with the apparent disregard that much of our formal theology has treated this third member of the Trinity, and seeks to explore the implications of understanding the Holy Spirit in a more profound way.   In this essay, I will briefly review his proposals.

            Clark Pinnock is not a wary theologian.  In many ways he has shown himself willing to stretch the bounds, explore the edges, and incite discussion in his quest to help expand the church’s understand of God and itself.  His treatment of the Holy Spirit follows this route.  Showing what is apparently as much a personal journey of discovery as it is intellectual curiosity, Pinnock seeks to go beyond the historic statements concerning the Holy Spirit, and examine Christianity as a whole from a Pneumatological perspective.  That is, rather than pointing out specific areas and emphases in which we can identify the Spirit’s work, Pinnock begins with the thesis that the work of the Spirit is in fact inherent in every aspect of Christian doctrine. He then goes on to examine the foundational pillars of Christian thought, with an eye for how the Spirit is present and active.  The main areas of interest for Pinnock’s exploration are creation, Christology, ecclesiology, salvation, and revelation.  He spends a chapter on each of these major doctrines discussing the way in which the Spirit is vital, yet has been generally ignored or slighted in theological studies. 

            The first doctrine that must be established and discussed is the role and place of the Holy Spirit within the Godhead. That is, before we examine how the Spirit works in this world we must first begin to understand the relationship that the Spirit has with the Son and with the Father.  It is this essential basis, in fact, of God as relational that must be a foundational thought for even attempting an understanding of God and his activity in this world.  Because of this essential relationality which is found at the essence of who God is in himself, we can better understand the importance and love which he bestows upon his creation.  The role of the Spirit, according to Pinnock, in this divine dance of the Trinitarian relationship is the one who “bonds the loving fellowship that God is and creates access to the Father through the Son (Eph. 2:18).” [1]

            There is a liveliness to the Trinitarian relationships that is quite astounding and profound.  This is not simply a static being, but rather a God of boundless activity and creativity.  The inner being of God is a shared life, one which is not solitary but rather one which is community at its highest form.  The arguments for this consideration are not grounded in philosophical disputes, but are in fact grounded in God’s own revelation of himself through history  and especially in the incarnation. [2]    The troubles of Trinitarian thought come from the attempts to speak more about who God is than who he reveals himself as.  However, this does not limit our understanding, because God has in fact revealed a great deal, and through his activities in the incarnation we have been shown the inner life of God himself.

            The Spirit is, in Pinnock’ thought, revealed in the Gospels as being the bond of love between Father and Son, mediating their relationship, and also “evoking its ecstasy”. [3]   It is the creative force that actively and continually works in this world drawing us in hope and love towards the relationship with God that was intended for us to have.  “By the Spirit we access the presence of the Father through Jesus Christ” and we “are swept into a divine world of mutual love and begin to experience the very goal of our nature as spiritual and social beings.”  By understanding the Spirit as the “ecstasy” of the Trinity we see that God is not a solitary fortress of being, but rather a loving community, an “open circle”, and “a source of pure abundance”. [4]   This overflowing nature drastically impacts how we must begin to examine the rest of theology.

            Having established the identity of the Triune God as one overflowing with community and abundance, Pinnock next turns to an examination of creation, the willful activity of God to create out of nothing something outside of who he is.  Pinnock grounds his Pneumatological thought of creation on Genesis 1:2, where the Spirit “brooded over the primeval waters and turned chaos into cosmos.” [5]   The Spirit is the life-giver, the bringer of the Divine spark into a formless void, so that there is a new vitality and overflowing bounty found throughout all that has been made.   It is the Spirit, according to Pinnock, who orchestrates and directs the universe to its ultimate goal which is “first the creational and then the redemptive purposes of God.” [6]   This understanding insists that God is not simply an aloof creator, allowing the world to go as it will, but rather that he is intimately involved with his creation in every respect, leading and guiding so that it will truly reflect his glory.

            In developing the place of the Spirit in creation, Pinnock returns to a very old understanding of the Son and Spirit being the “two hands with which God creates and perfects (Irenaeus, Against Heresies 4.20.1). [7]   The Son gives form to the creation, establishing the destiny and identity of that which has been created, essentially creating the framework of life and being, in a reflection of his own relationship with the Father. [8]   The Spirit then takes this form and seeks to perfect it, bringing it to its goal.  Pinnock sees the Son as the origin and “epitome” of creation, while the Spirit, as the “ecstasy” of God, is the artisan, crafting and beautifully shaping that which has been created into something glorious.  As Pinnock states, “Spirit is perfecter, then, of the creation of which Jesus is the highest expression.” [9]   Through the continual interaction of the “ecstasy” of God, we can understand God by observing the creation, and we can expect that we and all that we see is being continually transformed by the love and grace of God to what we were intended to be, that is, beings and a world in total relationship with the Divine.

            A vital aspect of Pinnock’s re-examination of theology through a Pneumatological lens is his willingness to challenge the primacy of legal models of salvation and restoration which have prevailed since the time of Luther.  He contends that the role of the Spirit in history points to something beyond justification and penal justice in our relationship with God.  Thus, a Spirit Christology is not one in which the cross reflects “God’s thirst for retribution” but rather “his determination to overcome alienation and enslavement.” [10]   With this we must also see the extent to which Jesus himself relied on the Spirit in his own ministry.  The Spirit was active in humanity before the incarnation, through the many various gifts, talents, and insights that were given to those in the Old Testament.   As hope and expectation grew for a greater revelation of the Divine, so too did prophetic pronouncements that the Spirit would truly come in power. [11]   In the Gospels we are shown that the coming of the Spirit in a new way dawned with the incarnation.  This event was not only the revelation of the Logos, but was also the revelation of the “ecstasy” of God.  Pinnock states that the Gospels, “reveal Jesus as the gift of the Spirit”, dependent on the Spirit so to help create a bond with humanity and lead him into providing salvation for humanity. [12]

            Because the Spirit is the enabler of all that Jesus did, it is blasphemous to deny the work of Christ.  To attribute his activity in salvation, healing, and restoration to any other source is to deny the Life-giving Spirit, and repudiating that which is the sole answer to life. [13]   It is of supreme importance to note this fact of the Spirit’s activity in all of the life of Jesus, because now we have been given this same Spirit in our own lives and communities.  Through the change that was enacted by the work of Christ, providing salvation, we can now receive that which he depended on, and can thus be used and filled by the Divine, coming ever-closer to union with Him and accomplishing works of power and love throughout this world as we become truly renewed in the “ecstasy” of God.

            One of the clearest marks of this continuation of the Spirit of Jesus in our lives is the establishment and work of the Church in this world, which Pinnock discusses in chapter four of Flame of Love.  The Church is not founded on human rationale or competency, but instead is imbued with the life, leading, and especially the power of the Spirit.  According to Pinnock, then, a “Spirit ecclesiology focuses not on the quality of the members, but on the power of God at work in and through them.” [14]   As the Church we are not primarily to recite philosophical theology, but rather “the main rationale of the church is to actualize all the implications of baptism in the Spirit.” [15]   It is the power that makes us the Church, as seen in the life of Jesus and now given to us by the same Spirit.  Because we share the same Spirit, we are bonded with the Son, and now share in the community of the Trinity itself.  As the Spirit is the bond between the Father and the Son, we now share that bond in eternity, and in fact share a bond with all humanity through the unity that the Spirit provides. [16]

            Pinnock delineates three areas of the life of the church that show this unity and power that comes through the work of the Spirit in our lives. [17]   Through the Sacraments we reunite the spiritual and the physical in our worship, receiving the gifts of grace of the Spirit through physical expressions and participation, just as seen in the incarnation of Jesus.  God is concrete, and through the sacraments we are given concrete grace. [18]   In the charismatic presence of the Holy Spirit is the works of power and visible signs of the Holy Spirit in our communities, showing that God is not theory, but true power working in marvelous ways restoring and edifying those within, and outside, of the community.  Thirdly, the Spirit brings power not only for our own benefit, but rather that we might become true disciples of Jesus, and continue the spread the message of his kingdom to the world.  This missionary enterprise is not dependent on techniques or theory, but on the power of the Spirit working in the Church, and those hearing and seeing the message of the church.   When the church is at the command of the Spirit, its deeds, words, and activities are empowered by the Spirit so as to point to true life for all humanity and will draw people from all backgrounds into the community of the Spirit and into fellowship with the Triune God.

            In his fifth chapter, Spirit and Union, Pinnock clearly shows an influence which has been present throughout his writing.  Although not necessarily explicit in his writing, it is clear that he has been profoundly influenced by Eastern Orthodox thought in his understanding and discussion of the Holy Spirit.  However, in this chapter, we find this influence very transparent.  Pinnock writes, “Spirit is leading us into union – to transforming, personal, intimate relationship with the Triune God.” [19]   He continues by saying, “to think of salvation in this way is to recover what early theologians called theosis.”  With this comment, Pinnock is making a bridge between Eastern and Western thought, seeking to incorporate this essential Eastern concept in a modern Western theology.  We are not saved simply to be saved, but rather we are saved so that we may enter into true communion with God, sharing in the Divine energies, and delighting in the perfect community that is present. 

            Christianity is not simply a legal orientation but is a pointing towards something higher, something more.   Christians are transformed into beings capable of communion with God, and thus are called to move from being simply the “image of God” into becoming the “likeness of God”.  The Spirit of God calls us and enables us to seek this transformation, though we certainly retain our freedom to pull away.  Union with God is not forced upon humanity.  Though saved by grace, this is not the end of the matter, with a human response and cooperation now possible and required.  Thus, Christianity cannot be Pneumatologically understood as being a one-time event of salvation, but is rather a continual life of transformation, an ever-growing approximation of Christ through the power of the Spirit so that we can become one with God, just as a man becomes one with a woman in marriage.  In the Christian life this is not an option, for “to refuse to be renewed is to refuse abundant life in this age and in the age to come.” [20]

            The sixth chapter is somewhat more controversial, as Pinnock discusses the universality of the Holy Spirit in this world.  The essential question which he seeks to address relates to how much, if at all, the Spirit is active in this world outside of the Church.  Essentially, Pinnock is revealing his hopeful and optimistic view of the work of God in this world.  He feels that theology has tended to be very restrictive of God’s grace in how it works, and for whom it is given.  The key to his disagreement with this position is how he understands God.  Instead of being the cold judge, Pinnock understands God as one who loves and seeks out humanity through the work of the Spirit.  He does warn against two errors that may arise in this discussion.  The first is that of universalism, which states that all will be saved.  The next is that of restrictivism, which states all non-Christians will be damned, whether they hear the Gospel or not, with those who were born in areas unreached by Christianity simply victims of bad fortune. 

            In responding to this Pinnock again returns to the concept of the  Son and Spirit as being the two hands of the Father in reaching to this world, with Jesus being particular, but the Spirit reaching out universally.  In our Western contexts, this understanding has been extremely limited by the inclusion of the filioque clause in the Nicene creed, which not only led to a split in the church but also impoverished our Pneumatological understanding.  Essentially, Pinnock is arguing that while Christ has revealed God in his fullness, the Spirit is working throughout the world, drawing people through various means to a greater understanding of God, and leading them to an understanding of Jesus, in truth if not in name.  He acknowledges the primacy of the Gospel, but is willing to seek out common truths and connections which have arisen in different contexts by the work of the universal Spirit of God, who loves all of humanity and is genuinely seeking that none should be condemned. 

            In his final chapter, Pinnock discusses revelation itself, pointing to ways in which the Spirit seems to reveal the identity of God and how we can and should approach this revelation.  Essentially, this chapter is an apologetic for his prior chapters.  Pinnock realizes that in many ways he is resisting and altering some traditionally held understandings, and in their place offering some new ways to approach theology.  He does not see this as an effort for its own sake, but rather as a responsibility for theologians to continually engage theology and the world, so that the Spirit is always clear and relevant for each age. [21]   Part of this is an encouragement for all Christians to grow and seek insight into Scripture.  Because the Spirit is the Spirit of Truth, we need to be continually maturing in our understanding of how he is working and leading.  The Spirit leads and guides, but the Church must break down, in many cases, barriers which have been erected which discourage or disparage theological and Scriptural conversation.  In addition, revelation cannot be simply understood as being propositional, but rather since the revelation is of a Relational God, the world is being revealed a true personality and character.  Thus, revelation is experiential and relational in its very essence. [22]

There are, however, two dangers which must be avoided if one is to soundly mature in understanding the revelation of God.  The first is to avoid a “too-controlled objectivity”, [23] in which too strong mandates are made to discourage exploration and limit development.  The other danger to avoid is “uncontrolled subjectivity”, [24] which puts the individual interpretation as vital while discouraging the community, both present and past.  The Spirit is not limited to revelation during a certain time to a specific people, but neither is the Spirit contradictory in its revelation.  By striking a balance between these two dangers, Pinnock argues, theology and revelation can bring us to an ever-closer understanding of the Triune God.  Theologians must be faithful to the original revelation but must also be responsive to the challenges of their day.  The Spirit is continuing to reveal God, and through patience and discernment we can grow in our understanding and union with this God who so wants to be in relationship with us. 

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[1] Clark Pinnock, Flame of Love (Downer’s Grove:  IVP, 1996), 21.

[2] Pinnock, 32.

[3] Pinnock, 37.

[4] Pinnock, 38. 

[5] Pinnock, 50.

[6] ibid.

[7] Pinnock, 58.

[8] See Pinnock, 59ff.

[9] Pinnock, 61.

[10] Pinnock, 109.

[11] Pinnock, 84. 

[12] Pinnock, 85.

[13] Pinnock, 89.

[14] Pinnock, 114.

[15] ibid.

[16] See Pinnock, 117.

[17] Pinnock, 119ff.

[18] Pinnock, 129. 

[19] Pinnock, 149.

[20] Pinnock, 177.

[21] Pinnock, 216.

[22] Pinnock, 227. 

[23] Pinnock, 232.

[24] Pinnock, 234.