A theology of charismatic testimony: the ecclesial contribution of marginal voices

The argument of this thesis is for a theology of Catholic charismatic testimony to be understood as prophetic voice. In so doing, this thesis contributes towards an increased understanding of the ecclesial contribution made by otherwise marginal voices to the progress of Catholic Tradition. It does so by identifying the prophetic voice of charismatic testimony in terms of four themes: incarnation, appeal to origins, rupture and continuity and poietic imagination. These are identified as characteristics of charismatic testimony This thesis responds first to the gap identified between what the Church teaches of the contribution of ordinary believers to Tradition, and the lived reality of those involved in Catholic Charismatic Renewal, in England. Second, it identifies in charismatic testimony a form of communicating faith as story that has not yet been studied in the Catholic context, in terms of how it functions theologically and is also expressive of charismatic gifting. To meet this deficit, this thesis explores testimonies of persons involved in Catholic Charismatic Renewal, bringing them as examples of ordinary theological discourse, into conversation with ecclesial and academic discourse. Testimonies were collected through semi-structured interviews of a non-random sample. An inter-disciplinary approach has been adopted whereby the testimonies have been examined as personal faith stories, and in terms of the Pentecost story. This has been done to connect and contextualise the ordinary discourse of contemporary charismatics with the ecclesial discourse of Scripture and Church teaching, especially that of certain texts from the Second Vatican Council. Theological explorations of Scripture, charismatic experience, Tradition and reception, prophecy and voices from the margins, have informed this thesis.