Theology of the Holy Spirit
One of our Elective Courses
At ABTS, formation is never one-sided. We teach and equip our students, but we also listen carefully to them. Their questions, ministry experiences, and the realities facing their churches continually challenge us to examine how our curriculum can serve the Church more faithfully.
Our elective courses are an important part of this process. Alongside the core Bachelor of Theology curriculum, faculty members prayerfully develop courses that allow students to engage more deeply with questions arising from their lives and ministries.
One such course, offered in June to our Year 3, 4, and 5 Bachelor of Theology students, was Theology of the Holy Spirit, taught by Kees van der Knijff, MTh Module Lead.
Kees developed the elective in response to the many questions students were asking about the Holy Spirit. In churches across the region, Christians encounter a wide range of teachings and practices concerning the Spirit’s presence, gifts, guidance, and work. Students therefore need more than simplified answers or arguments for one position over another. They need a deeply biblical and distinctly Trinitarian understanding of who the Holy Spirit is.
For this reason, the course began not with particular experiences or spiritual gifts, but with the Triune God. Students explored the relationship of the Holy Spirit with the Father and the Son, discovering that we cannot properly understand the Spirit’s work unless we first understand His identity within the Trinity.
Kees
Reflecting on the impact of the course, Kees shared: “As a result of the course, many students reflected on the place of the Holy Spirit in their personal spirituality. This led to a number of very beautiful insights, for which I am thankful.”
The course also reflects ABTS's vision of seeing God glorified, which means glorifying the Triune God. Kees explained:
From my interactions with the students, I have observed two ways in which the church struggles to glorify the Spirit. Some churches are afraid of placing too much emphasis on the Spirit and, as a result, almost neglect Him. Others are so focused on the Spirit and His gifts that they forget they are speaking about the Spirit of Christ. I hope this course gave the students the ideas and tools they need to resist both tendencies.
Maher, one of the students enrolled in the course, reflected:
Through the Theology of the Holy Spirit elective course, I discovered essential dimensions of the Spirit’s identity and His relationship with the Father and the Son. I learned that the Holy Spirit is the Father’s personal gift to us, given as an initiative of love in response to the Son’s intercession: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever.” (John 14:16). This deepened my assurance that I am not alone. This understanding made me rely less on human effort, and draw near to God instead. I also realized that every movement of repentance and love toward Him is ultimately the work of the Holy Spirit. This has given me great inner peace and has transformed my ministry, leading me to depend on the Spirit’s guidance rather than my own abilities.
Maher
Olfat, another student taking the course, shared: “The Theology of the Holy Spirit elective course has been a unique and important experience, and I am grateful that I was able to take it. I have learned much about the personhood of the Holy Spirit and about historical heresies concerning the Spirit, as well as the responses of influential figures such as Athanasius.”
Finally, we pray that God may continue to guide us as we offer courses and electives that respond to the needs of our students. May we continue to grow not only in knowledge and good works, but also in becoming more Christlike, decreasing so that He may increase, and serving so that His light may shine through us.