HDR Candidate: Rizzo, Daniela


Title of Project Theological Foundations for a Pneumatology of Animals
Course of Study Doctor of Philosophy
Language of Instruction English
Abstract

This research analyses and critiques current pneumatological perspectives on non-human animals and engages Pentecostal sources and broader perspectives to contribute to a pneumatology of non-human creatures. With some noticeable exceptions, at this stage the fields of animal theology and Pentecostal theology remain largely separate. This literature-based study aims to synthesise the work of non-Pentecostal animal theologians such as Linzey and Clough with Pentecostal scholars of eco/pneumatology, Frank Macchia, Amos Yong and A.J. Swoboda. One of the key distinctives of this work is the exploration of Spirit baptism beyond the boundaries of human experience. It will investigate the possible glossolalic faculty of sentient, non-human creatures in the context of a Spirit-baptised creation and suggest that non-human creaturely sighs and groans of lament align with the criteria of unintelligible glossolalic prayer, as developed by Frank Macchia. This project aims to contribute toward a Pentecostal animal theology and will implement Yong’s model of ‘pneumatological imagination’ as an instrument which informs a pneumato-centric reading, interpretation and subsequent theology on animals.