Page 23 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 11

Eric L. Johnson (USA)
Comment to
“That which comes from
the Lord who is the Spirit”
What a treat to read E. Janet Warren’s wide- cal Seminary. He
ranging reflections on the role of the Spirit in
a Christian psychology! One senses a thought-
ful Christian who is open to diverse sources of
knowledge, Christian practices and traditions,
and academic disciplines; one who is receptive
to the Spirit in all his manifold manifestations. I
suspect she is a good counselor!
The article reminded me that God the Spirit is
the ultimate, immediate source of all the good
that we enjoy as humans and as Christians:
the good that comes to us through intuition
and visions, imagination and creativity, from
dialogue with others, as well as the good that
comes through careful, logical reflection and
experimental, quantitative research. I was also
reminded that the infinite Spirit is not bound to
communicate with us in just one way. Perhaps
to walk in the Spirit means, at least in part, to
be open to the Spirit: to be curious and que-
stioning; to be open-minded, without being
gullible; to be on the look out for God’s truth,
goodness, and beauty all around us, from wha-
tever source; and to be free of the anxiety that
needs to control and mater and already “know-
it-all.” So, perhaps spiritual discernment entails
being open.
Christians need to challenge the Western re- ledge and uses all sources of knowledge. Consi-
liance (including some sectors of Western Chri-
stianity!) on exclusively logical-mathematical
and linguistic forms of knowledge, since such
reliance constitutes a kind of idolatry due to
their ability to give humans a sense of greater
control and confidence in their deliverances, in
contrast to the more ambiguous and obscure
kinds of knowing that one obtains through in-
tuition, imagination, bodily knowing, and emo-
tion. Limiting ourselves to logical and linguistic
forms of knowing has led to environmental cri-
ses, animal mistreatment, abortion-on-demand,
22
Eric L. Johnson
Ph.D. is Lawrence
and
Charlotte
Hoover Professor
of Pastoral Care
at The Southern
Baptist Theologi-
edited Psychology
and Christianity:
Five Views and wrote Foundations for Soul
Care: A Christian Psychology Proposal and
God and Soul Care: The Therapeutic Re-
sources of the Christian Faith. He’s married
to Rebekah, who keeps him grounded.
Former articles by Eric you can see here:
http://emcapp.ignis.de/1/#/96
http://emcapp.ignis.de/6/#/8
http://emcapp.ignis.de/2/#/4
http://emcapp.ignis.de/8/#p=8
over-medication, and continued oppression of
the poor in non-Western countries.
At the same time, though Warren acknow-
ledged the value of rationality, there seemed to
be at least the implication that the Spirit might
communicate with us more through the “sof-
ter” forms of knowing like intuition, imaginati-
on, and emotion. But is that so?
The Spirit is the source of all forms of know-
der the Bible, which God breathed out through
the Spirit (2Tim 3:16; Heb 9:8). It is an essen-
tially linguistic expression of God (though of
course it is permeated with emotion and ima-
gination!). The book of Proverbs utilizes com-
mon sense, everyday observation, and rational
reflection. Luke said his gospel was based on the
compiling of an orderly account of the events
of Jesus’ life. Moreover, the Spirit is the source
of rational skills. God said he filled Bezalel with
“the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence,
with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to de-