Atonement and pneumatology : a study in the theology of George Smeaton

Abstract

This is a study in the dogmatic theology of Christianity. The theological doctrines of atonement and pneumatology are based upon the revelatory work of the second and third persons of the trinity . The importance of this study lies in its attempt to gain insight into the relation between Christ and the Holy Spirit and from this to analyse in a fundamental way the relation between atonement and pneumatology. With this area of theology in mind attention is directed toward the nineteenth century Scottish theologian George Smeaton, Smeaton's works on the doctrine of the atonement and the doctrine of the Holy Spirit are of interest not only because of their dogmatic presentation of these two doctrines but more importantly because of the way he systematically thinks through the relation between atonement and pneumatology based upon the conjoint revelatory activity of the Son and the Spirit, This study then is essentially an attempt to discern Smeaton's understanding of the relation between atonement and pneumatology. The procedure followed is to discover Smeaton’s essential theological understanding in chapter one and then to examine more fully his thought with relation to the ongoing stream of Christian theology, both ancient and modern.