A critical analysis of the pneumatology of Thomas Erskine of Linlathen

In performing an analysis of the pneumatology of Thomas Erskine it is first necessary to look for the presence of a traditional Trinitarian Pneumatology which is based on the historical findings of the church and which deals with the subject of hypostasis and the relationships between the Persons within the Godhead. This kind of pneumatology is found to be lacking in Erskine’s writings. The next step is to proceed to look for anything that could replace it. Erskine’s concept of the “first bond” of the flesh, the role of the human conscience, and the place of the living Word are three things that partially take the place of a formal pneumatology in Erskine’s thinking. Erskine was very interested in the West Country revival which began in Scotland in 1829. He visited the area and wrote about his observations and experiences there. This increased his interest in the actions of the Holy Spirit both in experience and the scriptures. Even though he later recanted his endorsement of these manifestations in his own day, he held to his belief that such phenomena should appear in a healthy church which follows a New Testament pattern. In this thesis Erskine’s writings are analyzed by scanning all of them into a computer database and searching for references to the actions of the Holy Spirit. From this a dynamic pneumatology emerges. A dynamic pneumatology is not concerned with historic creeds or the relationships within the Godhead, John McIntyre defines a dynamic pneumatology as one that speaks of what the Holy Spirit does. McIntyre’s taxonomy sets forth eleven patterns of dynamic pneumatology with many sub-patterns. This examination of the writings of Erskine reveals a strong dynamic pneumatology which is both relational and ecclesial

Map showing six bays for monitoring.

<p>Map showing six bays for monitoring.</p

Standardized catch per unit effort (CPUE) of fishes.

<p>Left column: spotted seatrout; middle column: red drum; right column: southern flounder. Circles indicate spring, and x indicate fall. Locations: (a-c) Galveston Bay, (d-f) Matagorda Bay, (f-i) San Antonio Bay, (j-l) Aransas Bay, (m-o) Corpus Christi Bay, and (p-r) Upper Laguna Madre. The original CPUEs were transformed by taking the square root and then standardized by taking the Z-score.</p

Results of the co-integration analysis.

<p>The <i>p</i>-values of pairwise comparisons are shown. Significant co-integration association (<i>p</i> ≤ 0.05) is indicated by bold and asterisk*. The lack of a <i>p</i>-value indicates that one or both original time series were stationary and no co-integration test was performed.</p

Co-integrated time series and catch per unit effort (CPUE) time series that are co-integrated in fall.

<p>The panels show: (a) co-integrated time series from Upper Laguna Madre; (b) white shrimp in August (circle) and red drum in fall (X) CPUEs in Upper Laguna Madre; (c) co-integrated time series from San Antonio Bay; (d) white shrimp in November (circle) and red drum in fall (X) CPUEs in San Antonio Bay; (e) co-integrated time series from Upper Laguna Madre; and (f) brown shrimp in May (circle) and red drum CPUEs in fall (X). CPUEs were transformed by taking the square root and then standardized by taking the Z-score. The co-integrated time series shown in the left panels are the weighted linear combinations of the time series shown in the right panels.</p

Ratio between the sum of the squared prediction error without an independent variable and that with an independent variable, as obtained using PLSR analysis.

<p>A ratio > 1 indicates a significant association (emphasized with bold and asterisk *) between the fish and shrimp time series (brown and white shrimp combined).</p

Standardized catch per unit effort (CPUE) of brown shrimp and white shrimp.

<p>CPUEs of brown shrimp in May (panels a, c, e, g, i, and k) and white shrimp (panels b, d, f, h, j, and l) in August (circle) and November (triangle). Locations: (a-b) Galveston Bay, (c-d) Matagorda Bay, (e-f) San Antonio Bay, (g-h) Aransas Bay, (i-j) Corpus Christi Bay, and (k-l) Upper Laguna Madre. The original CPUEs were transformed by taking the square root and then standardized by taking the Z-score.</p