Seeking the Welfare of the City: Toward an Evangelical Appropriation of the Pneumatology of Colin Gunton for Public Theology - Paperback

by Naomi Noguchi Reese (Author)

In the history of public theology, the Holy Spirit's role in creation has been underexplored. If the Holy Spirit is the agent of transformation in creation, why have so many theologians neglected the Spirit's activity in the context of public theology? One of the causes of such neglect derives from a long-held belief in dualism or its assumption. As a result, generally speaking, theologians have neglected the eschatological aspect of the Spirit's work over creation, and instead have devoted much of their attention to the immanent/spiritual aspect of the Spirit's work. Hence, a theology is needed that recaptures the eschatological aspect of the Spirit's work over creation, and Colin E. Gunton's pneumatology that is trinitarianly formulated and eschatologically conceived brings a fresh approach to public theology and moves us toward a full-bodied, holistic, and trinitarian public theology that takes into account the triune God. This study attempts to draw upon the resources uncovered in Gunton's pneumatology to outline applications for Christian engagement of the public square for the twenty-first century. The book concludes with criteria for discerning the Spirit's work in the public square to give us practical ways to see how the Spirit may be working in the public square for transformation.

Author Biography

Naomi Noguchi Reese is an associate professor of theological studies at Highlands College in Birmingham, Alabama. She has contributed entries to the Dictionary of Christianity and Science (2017) and Lexham Survey of Theology (2018), as well as journal articles to Evangelical Review of Theology (2017) and Southeastern Theological Review (2020). She also recently authored "Theology of Silence: Endo Shusaku and the Divine Drama of Silence" for the Evangelical Quarterly (2023). She is a native of Japan.