
Theological Metaphysics
A Pentecostal Theology of Being
Ray C. Robles(Author)
T.& T.Clark Ltd (Publisher)
Published on 29. May 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
224 pages
978-0-567-71376-6 (ISBN)
Description
Insofar as Christian theology aims to make truthful claims about the nature of reality, it is necessarily involved in the enterprise of metaphysics. Pentecostals, precisely as Christians, are thus obliged to participate. Through this study it becomes evident that pentecostals aim to participate in the metaphysical discipline in the same way they theologize - that is, informed by the norms, practices, and speech acts that constitute their spirituality.
This book aims to construct a Christian metaphysics that is at once attuned to pentecostal spirituality/theology and informed by the classical tradition of Christian metaphysics.
Ultimately, this work offers a constructive and critical engagement with pentecostal spirituality, and with pentecostal theology via the larger ecumenical, creedal, and dogmatic metaphysical tradition. Thus, this book is explicitly and intentionally limited to understand metaphysics in conversation with the historical Christian tradition, and to understand a pentecostal vision of it.
This book aims to construct a Christian metaphysics that is at once attuned to pentecostal spirituality/theology and informed by the classical tradition of Christian metaphysics.
Ultimately, this work offers a constructive and critical engagement with pentecostal spirituality, and with pentecostal theology via the larger ecumenical, creedal, and dogmatic metaphysical tradition. Thus, this book is explicitly and intentionally limited to understand metaphysics in conversation with the historical Christian tradition, and to understand a pentecostal vision of it.
Reviews / Votes
Faced with the relative neglect of metaphysics within the Pentecostal tradition, Ray Robles offers an in-depth and theologically astute corrective. Deeply grounded in Christian tradition, Theological Metaphysics draws from a wide range of sources, while engaging in spirited dialogue especially with Amos Yong's emergence theory. The result is a well-constructed plea for a traditional participatory or sacramental ontology that does justice to the Pentecostal experience. This book is a treasure trove, not just for Pentecostals but for anyone asking how it is that we may speak about the triune God's enchantment of a Spirit-filled world. * Hans Boersma, Nashotah Theological Seminary, USA * Reality is... What exactly? Ray Robles in this important study disentangles the strands within reality inhabited by Pentecostals. The reader is rewarded by an intellectual journey of fascinating philosophical twists and turns, some ecumenical, some spiritual and historical and some purely theological. Fasten your seat belts! * William K. Kay, Regents Theological College, UK * Ray C. Robles has written a significant work on theological metaphysics from a pentecostal perspective. He presents a trinitarian, eschatologically oriented, radically open, and re-enchanted creational metaphysics. Robles does so by interacting with pentecostal theology, the Church Fathers, Aquinas, and some modern philosophical theologians. He also presents an illustrative pentecostal liturgy that flows from his metaphysical vision and thus grounds the more abstract discussion in the worshiping community. This book makes an important contribution to Christian metaphysics and pentecostal philosophical theology. * Simo Frestadius, Regents Theological College, UK and Bangor University, UK * By making the resurrection of Jesus the key pneumatological event, Robles makes the bold move of prioritizing eschatology in his theology of creation, thereby overcoming a dualism between the natural and the supernatural. He offers Pentecostals a fruitful path for addressing the question of metaphysics. An important step forward for Pentecostal theology. * Frank D. Macchia, Bangor University, UK * Robles' book sets forth timely trajectories enjoining further exploration into the promise of Pentecostalism towards a 21st-century Christian metaphysical vision. * Journal of Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Edinburgh
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 12 mm
Weight
348 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-567-71376-6 (9780567713766)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
11/2023
1st Edition
T.& T.Clark Ltd
€31.99
Available for download

E-Book
11/2023
1st Edition
T.& T.Clark Ltd
€31.99
Available for download
Person
Ray C. Robles is a theologian and teacher of theology and Christian worldview at Grand Canyon University and the Northern California Bible College, USA
Content
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Introduction
Chapter 1
Can There Be a Pentecostal Articulation of Metaphysics?
Chapter 2
Come, Creator Spirit: Imagining a Pentecostal Metaphysics in Dialogue with the Work of James K.A. Smith and Amos Yong
Chapter 3
The Spirit, Reality, and Renewal: Inferring Metaphysics from the Work of James K.A. Smith and Amos Yong
Chapter 4
Worship, Wisdom, and the Ways of the Spirit: Inferring Metaphysics from Pentecostal Spirituality
Chapter 5
Toward a Pentecostal Theology of Being-in-the-Spirit: The Knowledge of the Triune God and the Truth of Theological Metaphysics
Chapter 6
The Work of God in the Work of the People: Being-in-the-Spirit and Liturgical Renewal
Conclusion
Bibliography
Abbreviations
Introduction
Chapter 1
Can There Be a Pentecostal Articulation of Metaphysics?
Chapter 2
Come, Creator Spirit: Imagining a Pentecostal Metaphysics in Dialogue with the Work of James K.A. Smith and Amos Yong
Chapter 3
The Spirit, Reality, and Renewal: Inferring Metaphysics from the Work of James K.A. Smith and Amos Yong
Chapter 4
Worship, Wisdom, and the Ways of the Spirit: Inferring Metaphysics from Pentecostal Spirituality
Chapter 5
Toward a Pentecostal Theology of Being-in-the-Spirit: The Knowledge of the Triune God and the Truth of Theological Metaphysics
Chapter 6
The Work of God in the Work of the People: Being-in-the-Spirit and Liturgical Renewal
Conclusion
Bibliography