5 ¿QUÉ ES LO PROPIO DEL HOMBRE?
8. LA NATURALEZA Y EL UNIVERSO
For Land, affections are not mere feeling, but are ‘construals of and concerns for the world’.56 They are also ‘reasons’57 for practices because believers are motivated to act by the affective construals. For example, when we see starving children,58 we may feel compassion for them, and this compassion leads one to action to help. In this case, the affection of compassion activates a mutual relationship between the believer (subject of affections) and the starving children (the world), and this activated affection has an influence on actions to help the children. In this view, affections are relational and hermeneutical products between believers and the world. Due to this hermeneutical characteristic, Land insists that ‘Christian affections require for their proper origin and ongoing expression a relationship with God, the church and the world’.59 In short,
Christian identity embodied by the biblical story of God and experiences of the Spirit, and the world heading towards the kingdom of God, establish and embody the configuration of the affections.60
Due to their relational character, Land defines affections as ‘abiding dispositions which dispose the person towards God and the neighbour in ways appropriate to their
56 Land, Pentecostal Spirituality, 131–2. 57 Ibid., 132.
58 A starving child, as the object of the affection, is usually construed as the one who needs the help of
others.
59 Land, Pentecostal Spirituality, 131. 60 Ibid., 132–3.
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source and goal in God’.61 These are far more than fleeting emotions:62 ‘Affections are not merely the intense feelings that someone might have for an object or another person; rather, the biblical narrative shapes them and makes them endure.’63 Thus, unlike mere feelings or emotions, affections are abiding dispositions or attitudes embodied and determined by the biblical story and the participation in God’s presence in the worship community.64 The biblical narrative and relatedness with God in prayer65 and worship have an effect on the affections, so that they are ‘objective, relational and dispositional’.66 These objective, relational and dispositional qualities of Christian affections promote authentic Christian life and cause believers to be oriented to God within the world.67 For Land, the dispositional characteristic is particularly crucial because it encourages both the objective and relational qualities.68 He argues that Christian affections are objective and relational dispositions, which characterize a person (as a subject of affections) who is walking in the light, in love and in the power of the Spirit.69
61 Ibid., 132. Regarding the meaning of affections, Cox asserts that Land’s affections are ‘the
existential core of the faith’. See, Cox, ‘A Review of Pentecostal Spirituality’, 4.
62 Albrecht, ‘A Review of Pentecostal Spirituality’, 237.
63 Land, Pentecostal Spirituality, 30, 44, 74–5, 131. See also Stephenson, Types of Pentecostal Theology, 35.
64 Land, Pentecostal Spirituality, 34. Unlike ‘feelings’ these affections are distinctively shaped and
determined by the biblical story and evidence the marks of particular communal and historical location.
65 Land emphasizes the role of prayer and worship as an intrinsic theological work because through
them one can come to know and experience God. He considers prayer as the heart of Pentecostal spiritual theology. See Land, Pentecostal Spirituality, 24–7. Cartledge takes a similar position on prayer. He asserts that prayer–centred life is crucial for practices in Pentecostal spirituality because praxis is a way of being in the world. See Mark J. Cartledge, Practical Theology: Charismatic and Empirical Perspectives (Carlisle: Paternoster Press, 2003), 24–7.
66 Land, Pentecostal Spirituality, 130–2. First, that Christian affections are objective means that
affections take an object. God is the source and object of Christian affections because God as the object of affections is also the subject. Second, that Christian affections are relational meaning that there is a
relationship between God and believers. This relationship includes the church and the world. Third, Christian affections are dispositional because they are objective and relational. Thus, Christian affections are objective, relational and dispositional.
67 Stephenson, Types of Pentecostal Theology, 32. Stephenson supplements Land’s understanding by
insisting that affections are objective, relational and dispositional because they have ‘their end in God (objective), involve relationship with God and believers (relational) and shape the Christian life (dispositional)’.
68 Ibid. Additionally, Stephenson emphasizes the role of dispositional affections, which give believers
an abiding orientation to God and others.
69 Land, Pentecostal Spirituality, 118–9. With regard to Pentecostal affections, Land suggests that
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According to Land, God is the source and object of Christian affections.70 The object of affections is shaped and embodied by the biblical narratives of God and experiences of God through the work of the Spirit. These two sources are revealed in Land’s emphasis on ‘narrativity’ and ‘orality’.71 Land adopts Hollenweger’s understanding regarding the primacy of the Pentecostal movement, but instead of ‘orality’ uses the term ‘narrativity’.72 Indeed, Land’s thesis is composed of many narrative beliefs and practices in the classical Pentecostal movement.73 Pentecostal practices for God’s salvation history provide a clue that Pentecostal affections are directed towards the biblical stories of God and the Pentecostal life through the narratives. This is because Pentecostal affections are expressed by beliefs and practices in worship and prayer.74 Accordingly, the overarching concept of Pentecostal affections includes Pentecostal beliefs and practices by the work of the Spirit and is bound up with God, who is the telos of the Pentecostal spiritual journey.
containing ‘an implicit correlation of the character of God and that of the believer, between the Holiness language of love and the Pentecostal language of power’. From this assertion, one can glimpse how Land’s stance is influenced by the Holiness heritage. Land stresses not only an eschatological intensification and pneumatological emphasis within the Holiness movement but also an emphasis on sanctification and Spirit baptism in the Pentecostal movement. From the initial part of his proposal (see Ibid., 11), Land attempts to integrate the language of holiness and power spoken by the Holiness and Pentecostal movements
respectively. He puts the concepts of holiness and power into the same positions as love and power
respectively. In this respect, Pentecostals, as the subject of Pentecostal affections, can be characterized by the interplay between the language of love and the language of power.
70 Land, Pentecostal Spirituality, 130.
71 Hollenweger also emphasizes the orality of Pentecostal spiritual theology. He asserts that the oral
narratives of the first decade of the Pentecostal movement show the core value of the movement. See, Walter J. Hollenweger, ‘Pentecostals and the Charismatic Movement’, in The Study of Spirituality, ed. C. Jones, G. Wainwright and E. Yarnold (New York/Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986), 549–53. Edith Blumhofer supports his claim, arguing that during the first ten years of Pentecostalism, most Pentecostals believed that Spirit baptism preceded entire sanctification. See Edith L. Blumhofer, ‘Purity and Preparation: A Study in the Pentecostal Perfectionist’, in Reaching Beyond: Chapters in the History of Perfectionism, ed. Stanley M. Burgess (Peabody: Hendricksen Press, 1986), 270–9.
72 Land, Pentecostal Spirituality, 14–5. Land’s concept of narrativity seems broader than
Hollenweger’s emphasis on the oral tradition of the Pentecostal movement; it includes not only the biblical stories of God but also Pentecostal practices by the Spirit, because orality as a speech of the kingdom of God is an important motivation to participate in God’s salvation history. Stephenson compares Land’s narrativity with Frei’s understanding of the pre-critical interpretation of the bible stories. Believers interpret and confirm the story within their self-understanding and worldview. See Stephenson, Types of Pentecostal Theology, 41. Cf. Land, ‘A Passion for the Kingdom: Revisioning Pentecostal Spirituality’, 22–3.
73 Land, Pentecostal Spirituality, 131. In particular, Chapter 2 of Land’s book presents many practical
narratives of Pentecostals who participated in the story of God.
74 Land claims that ‘prayer expresses and evokes apocalyptic affections which integrate and motivate
the beliefs and practices of the community’. See ibid., 24–6, 163–72, 219. Cf. idem., ‘A Passion for the Kingdom: Revisioning Pentecostal Spirituality’, 23–4.
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Within the dispositional and relational concept of affections, Land suggests three main Christian affections: gratitude, compassion and courage.75 In his view, these affections are expressed in the process of the inter-relationship regarding God, the kingdom and salvation.76 He insists that they are distinctively Pentecostal as well as Christian affections, but that the profile of Pentecostal affections is different from that of Christian affections: ‘Pentecostals are not just more exuberant than some other Christians. All the significant Christian affections are there but the profile is different.’77 That is, Pentecostal affections are similar to traditional Christian affections in their form and type; however, there is a distinct difference in their content and quality. Land asserts that the difference is due to the apocalyptic vision:
The apocalyptic vision and transcendent presence of the power of the age to come alters the affective chemistry in significant ways. The sense of urgency concerning the missionary task and readiness for the soon coming of the Holy Lamb of God alters the affections not only in quantitative intensity but also in terms of the qualitative mix or characteristic gestalt.78
Through the inter-relationship between Christian affections and an apocalyptic vision, Land develops distinct characteristics of Pentecostal affections, represented by gratitude, compassion and courage.
75 Ibid., 130–135. Land calls this triad of affections the central Christian affections, and claims that
‘all Christians are or should be characterized by [them]’. Their selection is influenced by Roberts, who insists that gratitude, compassion and confidence are ‘what make a person a Christian’ in spirituality. See Robert C. Roberts, The Strengths of a Christian (Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2013), 22.
76 Land, Pentecostal Spirituality, 130–5. The three are bound with the traditional theological virtues
of faith, love, and hope respectively. According to Land, Pentecostal affections, evoked and expressed by beliefs and practices, have their origin in God’s righteousness, love and power. These sources are correlated with God’s attributes, the kingdom and salvation, which are themselves related to the traditional theological virtues of faith, love and hope respectively. The triad are also correlated not only with the view of
justification, sanctification and the Spirit baptism but also with that of Christ as Saviour, sanctifier and baptizer in the Spirit. Cartledge complements the process by adding the concept of search-encounter- transformation, as well as the structure of narrative, symbol and praxis. See Cartledge, Practical Theology, 20.
77 Land, Pentecostal Spirituality, 133. 78 Ibid.
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Gratitude, ‘the foundation of the Pentecostal affective structure’,79 is grounded in and embodied by ‘the gracious righteousness and merciful faithfulness of a holy,
compassionate God’.80 Giving thanks to God flows from the salvation of the world through Christ. To be saved through Christ is to become the righteousness of God and to walk in His light. Land formulates a Pentecostal interpretation of gratitude, using a framework called ‘already but not yet’. Gratitude is evoked through remembering what God has done. However, gratitude extends not only to remembering the past but also to the dimension of what God will do to bring in the kingdom.81 The gratitude results in faith that gives
believers victory over the world not only in the present but also in the future. Thanksgiving and praise through the victory are distinct characteristics of Pentecostal worship.82
Compassion, ‘the interior of the building’,83 is correlated to the virtue of love. This love originates from God because God is love. Jesus Christ, who is a crystal of God’s love, is primarily associated with compassionate love. He is a perfect model of compassionate love, because one can be compassionate through Christ and move towards others as He did. Accordingly, as Land mentions, compassion is derived from ‘abiding in Christ’.84 However, the transformation of compassion into Pentecostal compassion happens in relation to an apocalyptic vision. According to Land, compassion is a desire to draw closer to the love of God, and this is finally a longing for the kingdom to come.85 This longing for the kingdom enables one to be sanctified and to overcome suffering and barriers.
79 Ibid., 139. 80 Ibid. 81 Ibid., 136.
82 Ibid., According to Land, thanksgiving and praise in Pentecostal worship services are expressed by
the testimonies, songs, prayers, offerings, manifestations of gifts, ordinances, and so on. See also, Ibid., 136.
83 Ibid., 139. 84 Ibid., 142.
85 Ibid., 143, 147. He insists that love is a ‘longing for the dawning of the day of the Lord when all
conflict would be past’. See also, R. E. Winsett, ‘Longing for the Dawning’, in Songs of Pentecostal Power,
Complete: A Book of the Very Best Spiritual, Soulwinning Songs, ed. R.E. Winsett (Dayton: R. E. Winsett,
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Land embodies the Pentecostal understanding of courage within the relationship with the apocalyptic vision, which is a hope for the kingdom of God. For Land, the affection of courage is associated with the Spirit, who empowers one to be courageous through Spirit baptism. According to him, the experience of the Spirit gives one the power of courage and confidence in God.86 It is the power of the Spirit that gave early
Pentecostals the boldness to devote themselves to the mission field. Moreover, Spirit baptism gives confidence and hope of liberation to Pentecostal believers who are suffering or imprisoned. In this respect, Land insists that confidence and hope are the ‘already-not yet’ polarities of courage.87
The three Pentecostal affections are commonly interrelated with an apocalyptic vision. They become apocalyptic because an apocalyptic vision alters their affective dimension toward ‘on the way home’.88 Accordingly, for Land, a longing for the kingdom of God, which is an apocalyptic vision, shapes and legitimates Pentecostal affections, which have apocalyptic nature:
These affections operate by a certain ‘grammar’ and exist in a reciprocally
conditioning mode with the beliefs and practices. They may be legitimately termed ‘apocalyptic affections’ since they are constituted by the distinctive eschatological reality and vision of Pentecostals.89
This assertion can be assessed by Land’s definition of spirituality as an ‘integration of beliefs and practices in affections, which are evoked by those beliefs and practices’. A longing for the kingdom, derived from Pentecostal beliefs and practices, embodies Pentecostal affections because affections are elicited by beliefs and practices. In this
86 Land, Pentecostal Spirituality, 154. 87 Ibid., 156.
88 Ibid., 133. 89 Ibid., 47.
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respect, Land insists that the apocalyptic vision for the kingdom is at the heart of Pentecostal affections as well as of beliefs and practices in spirituality.90 Therefore, the Pentecostal affections, which are the integrating centre of Pentecostal practices and beliefs, are embodied by an apocalyptic vision, which is the Pentecostal ethos and identity of pursuing the kingdom of God. In turn, the Pentecostal affections, which can now be characterized as ‘apocalyptic’, direct towards the kingdom of God. Since Pentecostal affections are focused towards the kingdom of God through an apocalyptic vision, they are transformed into apocalyptic affections. In this process, a passion for the kingdom of God is shown to be the ruling affection, because Pentecostal affections are integrated by the passion for the kingdom.
As shown with regard to Land’s definition of spirituality (1.1.2), during the first ten years of the classical Pentecostalism an apocalyptic vision was at the heart of Pentecostal beliefs and practices. Indeed, Land insists that an apocalyptic vision, as a longing for the kingdom of God, is the core value of Pentecostal affections as well as of beliefs and practices.91 To this assertion he adds a further claim, namely that the apocalyptic vision intensifies Christian affections by adding to them a sense of urgency about Christ’s return and the mission of the church, and a readiness for the kingdom of God. This intense configuration of a sense of urgency and readiness modifies Christian affections into Pentecostal affections, which are apocalyptic.92 The three main Christian affections – gratitude, compassion and courage – are transformed into Pentecostal affections through an apocalyptic vision, which is a longing for the kingdom of God. These apocalyptic
90 Ibid., 47, 118, 133.
91 In Chapter 2 of his book, Land identifies an apocalyptic vision as a core value of beliefs and
practices in the classical Pentecostalism. In this respect, an apocalyptic vision is the heart of Pentecostal affections because affections are expressed and evoked by beliefs and practices.
92 Land claims that the sense of urgency and readiness for the kingdom of God transforms the
affections not only in quantitative intensity but also in the qualitative mixture of Pentecostal affections. An apocalyptic vision and an expectation of the kingdom of God change the affective organism in significant ways. See Land, Pentecostal Spirituality, 133.
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affections direct towards a passion for the kingdom, because they are embodied by an apocalyptic vision. In the next subsection, I describe a passion for the kingdom, which is the integrating core of Pentecostal affections and Pentecostal spirituality.