NATURAL LAWS AND DIVINE INTERVENTION: WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES BEING PENTECOSTAL OR CHARISMATIC MAKE?

Author: Yong, Amos

Source: Zygon, Volume 43, Number 4, December 2008 , pp. 961-989(29)

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Abstract:

The question about divine action remains contested in the discussion between theology and science. This issue is further exacerbated with the entry of pentecostals and charismatics into the conversation, especially with their emphases on divine intervention and miracles. I explore what happens at the intersection of these discourses, identifying first how the concept of “laws of nature” has developed in theology and science and then probing what pentecostal-charismatic insights might add into the mix. Drawing from the triadic and evolutionary metaphysics of Charles Sanders Peirce, I propose a reconsideration of the “laws of nature” as habitual, dynamic, and general but nevertheless real tendencies through which the Holy Spirit invites the world to inhabit the coming kingdom of God. This proposal contributes to the articulation of an authentic Pentecostal-charismatic witness at the theology-and-science table while also enabling a more plausible and coherent account of divine action for pentecostal-charismatic piety and Christian practice in the twenty-first century.

Keywords: eschatology; Holy Spirit; miracles; natural laws/laws of nature; Charles Peirce; pentecostal theology

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9744.2008.00971.x

Affiliations: 1: Professor of Theology, Regent University School of Divinity, 1000 Regent University Drive, Virginia Beach, VA 23464;, Email: ayong@regent.edu.

Publication date: 2008-12-01