Discerning the Holy Spirit in the World of Religious Pluralism(s), Secularism(s), and Science(s): A Multilayered Constructive Christian Vision of Pneumatology for the Third Millennium

Abstract

Abstract This essay seeks to reimagine Christian pneumatology in a radically new key. This plural and multilayered vision allows us to discern the presence and work of the Spirit of God in the cosmos, in the secular and religiously pluralistic world and society, as well as in Christian life at both the ecclesial and personal levels. No need to mention that this kind of authentically Christian reimagining can only be accomplished in an integral trinitarian framework. This plural paradigm engages critically spiritual “powers” and energies (as in traditional “angelology”), the S/spirit(s) in other religions, the spirit(s) of the public realm (as in sciences, politics, and economy), and the spiritual aspects of (post-)secularism. And in difference from the traditional limited conception of the Spirit’s work to the “spiritual,” the multilayered and complex account of pneumatology seeks to envision the Spirit’s work in all aspects of the world and life.