AUTHORITY AND CHARISMA IN THE BIBLE

Abstract

The first frame of the discussion is concerned with the innate authority and charism of God, as God is God‟s self. Authority and charism constituted who and what God is, God is all powerful (potestas) and God is full of goodness (charisma). This is called constituted and immanent authority and charism of God, as they exist in eternity and transcend time. The second aspect discusses the authority and charism of economic Trinity, in creation, in redemption and in sanctification, as God relates to the human family in history, time and place. This is called the extension of economic authority and charism of God, in temporality and historicity. While the third dimension deals with the transfer and delegation of this authority and charism to the human family and their praxis and problems in the Church and in the world and their obligations within the human society. In praxis, the twin concepts authority and charism relate to the service and mission of empowering human potentialities and improving of human conditions on the socio-economic, political and cultural levels.