Date of Award
4-30-2025
Document Type
Thesis
Publisher
Santa Clara : Santa Clara University, 2025
Degree Name
Licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL)
Abstract
Although Ignatius’ and Pentecostal-Charismatic (P-C) frameworks differ in their structure and emphasis – Ignatius focusing on interior movements and long-term discernment, and P-C Christians emphasizing immediate prophetic messages – both traditions affirm that these various forms of God’s communication can be accessed through the same spiritual perception. This includes thoughts, intuitions, feelings, bodily sensations, and imaginative experiences.
Recognizing these shared revelatory modes invites a renewed appreciation for spiritual perception within contemporary Ignatian spirituality, highlighting the Spiritual Exercises as a school for forming and refining the senses to perceive God’s communication. Moreover, contemporary prophetic experiences among P-C Christians offer valuable perspective for interpreting Ignatius’s own prophetic experiences and reinforce the faith-building conviction that God continues to speak today.
Conversely, Ignatius’ perception of God’s communication as a gradual and transformative interaction – often unfolding through subtle interior movements – can help P-C Christians grow in awareness of God’s presence beyond explicit words or dramatic experiences. Applying the Ignatian framework of the Three Times of Election to their revelations can help P-C Christians integrate perceived words and feelings into a fuller process of discerning God’s will – by attending to affective resonance and allowing the gradual transformation of their intellectual sensibility in recognizing God’s communication.
Recommended Citation
Pruś, Artur, "Perception of God’s Communication: A Comparative Study of Ignatius of Loyola and Pentecostal-Charismatic Christians" (2025). Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations. 148.
https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/jst_dissertations/148
