The Work of the Holy Spirit in Christian Practices: A Constructive Proposal

There continues to be strong interest in the arena of Christian formation, which is

primarily concerned with developing mature Christians in light of shifts in contemporary

views on religion and its relationship to ethics. The field of Christian formation has many

facets one of which is the field of Christian practices. Those who work in this field are

primarily concerned with relating Christian beliefs to the every day lives of Christians in

the interest of providing a stronger witness to the faith. Also, Christian practices are a

means to provide a response to other forms of identity formation provided by a hyper

individualistic consumer driven culture.

This thesis is concerned with the question of how the work of the Holy Spirit is

understood to function in Christian practices? In short, “Does Pentecost have anything to

do with how Christians live their daily lives?” To answer these questions a brief

investigation of present work in Christian practices will be provided to ascertain how the

work of the Holy Spirit is present. Thereafter, an example of how the focus on the Holy

Spirit in the work of Christian practices may be enhanced indebted to Eugene Rogers’

work on the Holy Spirit and James K. A. Smith’s work on the formation of Christian

desire will be proposed