This book identifies the impasse between classical Protestant and contemporary charismatic and Pentecostal pneumatologies as a fundamental theological problem. Its goal is to contribute a constructive pneumatological proposal for moving beyond this impasse, based on the resources of the theology of Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt (1842-1919). The disagreement is over the question of unmediated experience of the Holy Spirit. Luther's rejection of 'enthusiastic' pneumatologies on the basis of a narrow concept of the mediation of the Word and a pessimistic anthropology became Protestant orthodoxy. In relation to classical Protestantism, the primary theological distinctive of charismatic theology is its strong affirmation of unmediated experience of the Spirit in Christian life and worship. The Pentecostal movement's rapid growth in the past century has brought this difference to the fore. Christoph Blumhardt's theology, which integrates pessimistic anthropology and unmediated experience, is well-suited to exploring the impasse between the two theological traditions.

Chapter One: Christoph Blumhardt and the Contemporary Pneumatological Impasse Chapter Two: 'Sterbet, so wird Jesus leben!': Christoph Blumhardt's Turn to Theology of the Cross, 1888-96 Chapter Three: Gedanken aus dem Reich Gottes: Eschatology in Blumhardt's Theology, 1888-96 Chapter Four: Schwärmerei? The Category of 'Erlebnis' in Blumhardt's Theology, 1888-96 Chapter Five: Blumhardt's Life and Thought, 1897-1919 Chapter Six: Blumhardt's Pneumatology: Contributions and Critical Reflections Chapter Seven: Blumhardt's Pneumatology in Dialogue: Contemporary Pentecostal Theology and Martin Luther Chapter Eight: Beyond the Impasse: 'Negative' Experience of the Holy Spirit in the Christian Life Bibliography