The Divine-Human Encounter Towards a Pentecostal Theology of Experience

This address offers preliminary steps toward a theology of experience from a Pentecostal perspective. While not making experience of God the sole basis for theological reflection, this address suggests that too frequently experiences with God the Spirit are allowed no basis for such reflection. Using four doctrinal loci of traditional Christian theology, Cross argues that each locus is deficient without an experiential dimension. The four loci are traditionally expressed in the following Latin phrases: (1) finitum (non) capax infiniti; (2) Christus praesens; (3) unio cum Christo; and (4) internum testimonium Spiritus Sancti. Rather than creating an entirely new theology for Pentecostals, this essay proposes to breathe life into some existing Christian theological formulations by including a reflection on human encounters with the Spirit.