30 Transformation 23/1 January 2006 INDIAN CONTRIBUTION TO CONTEMPORARY MISSION PNEUMATOLOGY tf views Indian Contribution to Contemporary Mission Pneumatology Kirsteen Kim Dr Kirsteen Kim teaches at the United College of the Ascension at Birmingham, UK In the late twentieth century, the Western church- es rediscovered the truth of the creedal state- ments that in addition to God the Father and God the Son, there is also God the Spirit. Furthermore Western theologians began to discuss the pres- ence and activity of the Holy Spirit not only in the church and the human heart but also in the world. The Canberra Assembly of the World Council of Churches in 1991 highlighted controversy over the relationship between the mission of the Son and the mission of the Spirit and raised the ques- tion of how and where the Spirit is discerned. The Assembly drew attention to the importance of further discussion on the mission of the Spirit and the potential for applying a pneumatological approach to a range of missiological questions. 1 These included: What is the source of the Spirit and the spiritual resources for mission? What is the nature of the Spirit’s involvement in history? What is the locus of the Spirit – creation, com- munity or human heart? Can pneumatology help to solve the “christological impasse” in theology of religions? What does theology of the Spirit sug- gest about identity, community and the nature of Christian unity? Are we dealing with one Spirit or many spirits? What constitutes authentic mission spirituality? 2 Many of the most interesting recent contribu- tions to discussion of mission pneumatology come from theologians who are reflecting on the Holy Spirit within the context of a cultural understand- ing of spirit and spirits that differs significantly from western frameworks. India – a land where there is deep awareness of one universal Spirit and there are also many spiritualities – offers out- standing examples of creative thinking on the Spirit from Christian theologians. The purpose of this paper is to explore Indian Christian theology from the perspective of pneumatology to high- light its contribution to international debate. God as Spirit In his Introduction to Indian Christian Theol- ogy, Robin Boyd observed that over nearly two hundred years of Indian Christian theology/pneu- matology, particularly as it is expressed in John’s gospel, emerges as the “corner-stone”. That is, God’s dealings with the world are seen primari- ly in terms of the Spirit. 3 This reflects the domi- nant cultural understanding that God is Spirit and that the earth is the embodiment of the feminine power of God. Similarly, the Catholic theologian Felix Wilfred explains to critics of Indian theology that, in keeping with Eastern religions in general, Asian Christian theologies recognise particularly “the inexhaustible aspect of the divine mystery which St John expresses laconically:‘God is spirit’ (Jn 4.24)”. 4 Spirit Christology The Indian christology that Boyd describes tends therefore to be “Spirit christology” rather than “Logos christology”, that is, it begins from the work of God in the world through God’s Spirit since the creation and understands Jesus Christ as the fulfilment of that, rather than by justifying the claims about the person and nature of Christ. In other words, in their dialogue with the twin realities of the religious traditions of India and in awareness of the material poverty of its people, Indian theologians have been particularly con- cerned with the role of Jesus Christ in mediating the presence and salvation of God, rather than with the traditional Western preoccupation with