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The Spirit as guide

The study of spiritual practices combines two dimensions. Anthropologically, these practices concern human interactions, individual experiences and cultural expressions. Theologically, spiritual practices are about God's Spirit and the Spirit's presence in these cultural expressions and human interactions. In this course, we study spiritual practices according to these two dimensions.

  • Course content

    The first line in the course consists of the reconstruction of pneumatological dimensions in three recent theologies with different cultural backgrounds to understand the relationship between cultures and the presence of the Spirit. The second line involves the empirical study of spiritual practices using participatory and comparative methods. These practices are selected biographically and culturally.

    The course is research-based. We want to discover:

    1. how recent theologies of the Spirit interact with spiritual practices
    2. how this contributes to a better understanding of the interface between pneumatology and culture

  • Size

    The seminar is 7.5 ECTS.

  • Period

    November 2025 to January 2026

  • For who?

    For anyone interested in (their own) spiritual practices and the role of the Holy Spirit in the world, church and believer.

  • Literature

    • Richard Burgess, "Practical Christianity and Public Faith: Nigerian Pentecostal Contributions to Intercultural Theology," 145–168. In: Mark J. Cartledge and David Cheetham, eds., Intercultural Theology: Approaches and Themes (London: SCM Press, 2011).
    • Kyama Mugambi, "The Gospel beyond the West: The Sanneh–Walls Legacy and Emerging Conversation Partners in World Christianity Studies," in Studies in World Christianity 29, no. 2 (2023): 121–141.
    • Clifton R. Clarke, Pentecostalism: Insights from Africa and the African Diaspora (Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2018). See esp. 76–107.
    • Frank D. Macchia, "The Kingdom and the Power: Spirit Baptism in Pentecostal and Ecumenical Perspective." In Welker, M. (ed.) The Work of the Spirit: Pneumatology and Pentecostalism (Grand Rapids, Mich: William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 2006), pp. 109–125.
    • Ted A. Smith, "Theories of Practice", 244-254. In: Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore, The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Practical Theology (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012).
    • Gerrit Immink, 'Theological Analysis of Religious Practices', in International Journal of Practical Theology. 18, no 1 (2014): 127-138. DOI:10.1515/ijpt-2014-0010
    • Lucy Bregman, The Ecology of Spirituality (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2014), H.1: Definitions of Spirituality
    • Jones, Joshua. "Practical Theology and the Holy Spirit", in Theology and Ministry no. 6 (2020): 26.
    • Neil Pembroke a.o., Spiritual Formation in Local Faith Communities (Wipf & Stock, 2022): Introduction (1-17), H.2 Spiritual Guidance (30-48) en H.3 The Model in Transcultural and Contextual Perspective (49-64)

    Additional literature on pneumatology and pastoral care will be provided during the first lessons, depending on the students' theological and cultural context.

  • Lecturers

  • Assessment

    During the course, you will work towards a scholarly article on the interface of pneumatology and culture by studying concrete examples of spiritual practices. In the classes, we create a setting of a ‘writing workshop’ with methodical contributions on research and writing and theological content on pneumatology and spirituality.

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