“Walking by the Spirit” (Gal 5:25): Inspiration as a Fundamental Action-Theoretical Concept for a Pneuma-Sensitive Moral Theology

Abstract

Inspiration is a fundamental human experience and a source of meaning. As such, it drives people to act. Yet inspiration plays no role in moral theology. Drawing on Pauline ethics, this article first argues for a pneuma-sensitive moral theology that takes seriously the significance of the Spirit’s activity for human action. This is concretized through a concept of inspiration developed in light of the history of ideas (Plato, Thomas Aquinas, Friedrich Nietzsche). Inspiration is described as a complex “hyper-phenomenon” that can be interpreted both theologically-pneumatologically and non-metaphysically. Before the article concludes with a specific application to digital-ethics (“digital inspiration”), it uses the practice of “discernment of spirits” as an example to show that inspiration always requires examination.