Politics of the Spirit

Electronic versions

Documents

  • Christopher Rouse

    Research areas

  • Ethics, Discernment, Pentecostalism, Politics, Memory, Identity, Imagination, Terrorism

Abstract

How do we discern our ethical identity and the challenges of our present age? Ethical discernment requires honesty about the contours of narratives that shape identity and the conflicts that can erupt within. Identity itself exists on the horizons of memory and imagination, where ethical discernment must lead. Pentecostalism, with its emphasis on the practice of discernment through testimony, may offer unique resources for contemporary ethics. Focusing on the ethical issue of terrorism and its effects upon identity, the narrative of September 11, 2001, is considered through a variety of testimonies. Further investigation into the ethics of terrorism itself discloses the events of September 11, 2001, as but one instance in a seemingly endless collision of identity and power. Present within resulting identity is a conflict of what Pentecostal ethics would consider as sanctified vs. terrorized identity, memory, and imagination. Engaging contemporary voices in emergence theory assists in illuminating points of intersection between Pentecostal ethics and terrorism. Sanctified memory and imagination are embodied in the fruit of the Spirit, as discerned in the formation and practices of ethical identity. Such sanctified identity is offered in contrast to a terrorized identity, embodied in the works of the flesh and demonstrated in a forgetfulness of memory and failure of imagination. How can Pentecostal ethics, and the offering of sanctified identity, memory, and imagination contribute to addressing the modern concerns of our time such as terrorism? Looking out into the horizons of our identity, further locations will be identified for future ethical exploration.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Awarding Institution
Supervisors/Advisors
Award date15 Mar 2024