Page 35 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 22

suddenly appear in a drama�c infilling with the Wachstumsprozesses? Ich folge in diesem Ar�-
Holy Spirit, but are the long-term results of a
life in the Spirit that develop over years of prac-
�ce. [...] The New Testament clearly seems to
regard both - the spectacular phenomena and
the silent fruit - as works of the Spirit, both of
which have their jus�fica�on” (Tomlin, 2019, p.
100).
Tomlin also emphasizes that a person's tempe-
rament must be dis�nguished from their cha-
racter. Temperament comprises individual per-
sonality traits that are morally neutral. They
dis�nguish people from other people and make
up their individual characteris�cs, such as the
contrast between introversion and extroversi-
on. A person's character, on the other hand,
can be morally evaluated. We think of pairs of
opposites such as aggressiveness versus self-
control or pa�ence versus impa�ence.
4.2. The human contribu�on: spiritual exerci-
ses to change character
Humans are not creatures that are completely
determined by gene�cs, upbringing and envi-
ronment. Personality psychologists agree that
beyond these factors, there are degrees of free-
dom for each person to live self-determined
lives and to change during the later years of
their lives (see Roberts & Yoon, 2023). Thus, fol-
lowers of Jesus also have the opportunity to
not only passively allow the Holy Spirit to work
on them, but to ac�vely and con�nuously give
him space through spiritual exercises. However,
the one must not replace the other.
How can the work of the Holy Spirit be suppor-
ted by regular spiritual exercises? In the antho-
logy by Chandler (2016), the authors show the
variety of human spaces of experience in which
the Holy Spirit can become effec�ve. People
who prac�se contempla�ve Bible reading and
prayer have had good experiences with a regu-
lar retreat into silence. Others emphasize the
emo�onal closeness to the heart of God the Fa-
ther in prayer, try to listen to the voice of the
Holy Spirit in listening prayer or appreciate the
upli�ing role of singing together in worship ser-
vices.
35
kel den Herausgebern eines Sammelbandes
über die Kunst und Wissenscha� der geistli-
chen Formung (spiritual forma�on) in Hiestad
& Wilson (2019, Seite 2): „Ul�mately, forma�-
on into Christlikeness is not the result of human
effort or self-will. Nor is it simply the byproduct
of more prayer, more therapy, more bible stu-
dy, more posi�ve psychology, more of any-
thing! Instead, is it a new crea�onal reality
brought about by the Sovereign Spirit who is
the Lord and Giver of Life. In the words of the
Apostle Paul, “we all with unveiled face, behol-
ding the glory of the Lord, are being transfor-
med into the same image form one degree of
glory to another. For this comes from the Lord
who is the spirit” (2. Korinther 3:18).
Im 5. Kapitel des Galaterbriefes werden die
Wirkungen des Heiligen Geistes auf die Charak-
terentwicklung beschrieben. Sie ermöglichen
den Wandel im Geist im Leben eines Christen.
Tomlin (2019) weist darauf hin, dass der Apo-
stel Paulus dort eine Liste von Eigenscha�en
aufführt, die an die Tugendlisten der griechi-
schen philosophischen Literatur erinnern: Lie-
be, Freude, Friede, Langmut, Freundlichkeit,
Güte, Treue, San�mut und Enthaltsamkeit. Auf
einen Unterschied ist allerdings hinzuweisen.
Paulus verwendet dabei nicht den üblichen Be-
griff arete = Tugend, sondern das Bild von der
Frucht des Geistes und verweist darauf, dass es
nicht um das isoliert Tugendtraining, sondern
um die vom Heiligen Geist gewirkten ganzheit-
lichen Ergebnisse eines Wachstumsprozesses
geht. „Das Bild von der Frucht zeigt, dass die
Herausbildung dieser Eigenscha�en ihre Zeit
braucht, so wie auch eine Frucht allmählich
rei�. Es handelt sich nicht um Gaben, die in ei-
ner drama�schen Erfüllung mit dem Heiligen
Geist urplötzlich da sind, sondern sie sind die
langfris�gen Ergebnisse eines Lebens im Geist,
die in Jahren des Einübens entstehen. […] Das
Neue Testament scheint eindeu�g beides – die
spektakulären Phänomene und die s�lle Frucht
– als Werke des Geistes zu betrachten, die bei-
de ihre Berech�gung haben“ (Tomlin, 2019,
Seite 100).