The eyes of faith: the sense of the faithful and the church's reception of revelation

1. The Holy Spirit and Revelation

ChAPter 1 The holy spirit and revelation Lumen Gentium 12 teaches that all believers possess “a supernatural sense of the faith” which enables an infallibility in believing. This supernatural sense of the faith is “aroused and sustained by the spirit of truth.” a theology of the sensus fidelium must begin by attending to the role of the holy spirit in divine revelation. it is central to the belief of Christians that God is fully encountered in Jesus Christ, the Crucified and risen one; that salvation from God is mediated through him; and that, within that salvific encounter, God is revealed to humanity. What is the role of the holy spirit in that process of revelation? how might a trinitarian theology of revelation be constructed that gives appropriate emphasis to that role? in this chapter, we begin our exploration of the sensus fidelium by firstly highlighting the witness of scripture to the enlightening role of the holy spirit, as but one of the many interrelated dimensions of the spirit ’s assistance in empowering Christians to appropriate the salvation Jesus Christ offers. This chapter therefore does not attempt a comprehensive exploration of the role of the holy spirit in the Christian life. after examining the scriptural witness to this Christian experience of enlightenment by the spirit in the economy of salvation, this chapter then proposes a trinitarian theology of revelation in which the holy spirit is seen to be “the principle of reception” in the process of divine revelation. 15 16 T H E P R I NC I P LE the eXPer IeN Ce o f t h e h o Ly SPIrIt Jesus was being interpreted from the moment his public ministry began , yet being misinterpreted. The four Gospels consistently preserve the memory that, during his ministry, the earliest disciples misunderstand Jesus .1 This misunderstanding is later corrected by three decisive “events”: Jesus’ death on the cross, his resurrection from the dead, and the early disciples’ experience, after the resurrection, of being given an ability to understand aright the meaning of Jesus’ teaching and ministry, of his death and resurrection, and of his identity as God’s bearer of salvation. in this section, it is this gift of an ability to understand Jesus that i particularly wish to focus on, without wanting to reduce the spirit’s work to a purely cognitive dimension. for the early Christian community, after easter something dramatic happens. They are given a power beyond them not only to understand Jesus’ teaching, his actions, the significance of his death and resurrection, and his identity, but also a power to live out the divine salvation he offers . The nature of the God of Jesus Christ and its implications for human living are now comprehended in a new light; the way of life Jesus taught is now able to be put into practice; how Jesus acted now becomes a way of life that can be imitated; the reign of God that Jesus preached and embodied is now able to be made real for them and by them in diverse ways in diverse contexts. This dramatic change is experienced in the coming of the holy spirit. The Crucified and risen one gives them the power of the spirit who empowered him. The whole of the new Testament witnesses to a rich variety of metaphors for expressing the difference Jesus Christ brings, through and because of the coming of the spirit . it is the holy spirit who now makes possible the living out and the understanding of the salvific revelation that Jesus Christ has incarnated. Life in Christ is life lived in the power of the spirit. Chronologically, the gift and reception of that enabling and enlightening spirit is narrated in different time frames by the new Testament writers. Luke’s narrative places that dramatic event fifty days after the resurrection , on the feast of Pentecost;2 John narrates how Jesus hands over the holy spirit to his disciples from the cross and during his appearance immediately after the resurrection.3 But, according to the salvation histo1 . The theme of the pre-easter disciples’ lack of full comprehension will be explored in chapter 4. 2. acts 2:1–41. 3. Jn 20:19–23. Through this book i will use the Lukan “Pentecost” to refer to the event of the spirit’s coming witnessed to by the whole of the new Testament. Holy S p i r it...