Thinking with C. René Padilla about the Holy Spirit (Part VII: English Version)

Preface

This is the seventh essay in a seven-part series on C. René Padilla’s essay “The Holy Spirit: Power for Life and Hope.” The series’ first six English-version essays are here, here, here, here, here, and here. Its first three Spanish-version essays are here, here, and here. Mi padre y yo hope you enjoy the series ¡Saludos!

A Brief Reminder and Word about Where We’re Going

Padilla’s essay considers the Spirit of God’s work in creation and history (Part 1), in Jesus’ mission (Part 2), and in the life and mission of the church (Part 3). The previous post considered the second and third parts of Padilla’s teachings on Pentecost: The meaning of Pentecost (Acts 2:14-39) and the results of Pentecost (Acts 2:40-47). In this post, we’ll discuss Padilla’s conclusion, and finish with four brief reflections on the essay.

Padilla’s Conclusion

Padilla begins his conclusion with Acts. “A brief analysis of the book of Acts throws into relief the spread of the gospel in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, and to ‘the ends of the earth.’” Rather than situating this point within the essay’s overall arch, Padilla turns to the New Testament Epistles.

As we move from Acts to the Epistles, however, we are surprised that the emphasis shifts from the Spirit’s action in relation to the mission of the church to the Spirit’s power in other areas of the Christian life such as the gifts that he provides for the building up of the church (1 Cor 12), love (Rom 5:5), the Christian character (Gal 5:19-26), holiness (1 Pet 1:2), Christian unity (Eph 4:3), and so on.

Ever the biblical theologian, Padilla points his readers to what a full reflection on the Spirit requires. When one examines these Epistles, “It becomes evident that the same Spirit who empowers the church for mission is also the Spirit who empowers the church to confess Jesus Christ as the Lord of the totality of life and to experience the kingdom of God as a present reality.”

Padilla ends his essay with a word about the relationship between Spirit-empowerment and hope, words that echo the essay’s subtitle (“Power for Life and Hope”). He writes:

[God calls Christians] to live by the power of the Holy Spirit according to the values of the kingdom of God inserted into history in the person and work of Jesus Christ, in the hope that he who began a good work in the church will in the end carry it to completion to the glory and praise of God.

Padilla’s final sentence echoes the Christological focus of Peter (Acts 2) and Paul (Phil 1:6). It is a Trinitarian word about God’s kingdom, the Spirit’s empowerment, and the Son’s person and work. As the Spirit works, this word inspires hope.

Four Brief Reflections

I conclude this mini-series with four brief reflections.

First, I love hermano Padilla’s attention to Old Testament and New Testament teachings about the Spirit. This essay is a great resource for those who desire to understand the fullness of Scripture’s teachings on the Spirit of God.

Second, Padilla’s catholicity is striking. This essay engages Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox theologies even as it considers teachings from the Majority and Minority world. Such breadth is beautiful and worthy of imitation.

Third, I appreciate Padilla’s consistent consideration of the Spirit’s role in empowering people “for practical life (including the mission of the church) and of hope, especially in the context of poverty and oppression.” I wish, however, he had said more about the latter context in his presentation of Acts and conclusion.

Fourth, Padilla’s lack of attention to women is glaring. His discussion of Joel 2 includes no mention of how striking it is that daughters and women will receive the Spirit and prophesy (see Joel 2:28-29). We also hear nothing about the women who spoke in tongues at Pentecost, and what source of hope and further empowerment this would have provided for sisters suffering patriarchal oppression. Relatedly, Padilla wrongly claims that those who received the Spirit at Pentecost are the first evangelists. As Luke, a text Padilla extensively engages in this essay, makes clear, the first evangelists were the sisters who found Jesus’ tomb empty.

When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others.  It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. (Luke 24: 9-11)

Luke continues by noting that the same Peter who preaches at Pentecost eventually believes the first evangelists enough to examine the tomb for himself (Luke 24:12). Padilla should have discussed such Spirit-empowered social leveling in this essay.

A Parting Word

Thank you for reading this mini-series. I hope it encouraged you and sparked your desire to continue to think con hermano Padilla. He was a good Brother who loved God and neighbor—“especially in the context of poverty and oppression.”