Listening to the Spirit in the Text

by Gordon D. Fee

For many years Gordon Fee, one of today's foremost evangelical scholars, has been asked to bring his trusted biblical expertise together with his well-known passion for the gospel and the church. Listening to the Spirit in the Text is his answer. Gathered here are Fee's best studies and reflections on the art of attending to the biblical text critically yet with a deep spiritual sensitivity. These insightful chapters cover a wide range of contemporary topics, including the relationship between Bible study and spirituality, gender issues, worship, tongues speaking, church order and leadership, the believer and possessions, and the role of the gospel in our global society.

Genres: Theology, Christian, Biblical Studies, Spirituality, Christianity

190 pages, Paperback

Published June 26, 2000

About the author

Gordon Fee was Professor Emeritus of New Testament at Regent College, where he taught for sixteen years. His teaching experience also included serving schools in Washington, California, Kentucky, as well as Wheaton College in Illinois (five years) and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Massachusetts (twelve years).

Gordon Fee was a noted New Testament scholar, having published several books and articles in his field of specialization, New Testament textual criticism. He also published a textbook on New Testament interpretation, co-authored two books for lay people on biblical interpretation, as well as scholarly-popular commentaries on 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus and on Galatians, and major commentaries on 1 Corinthians and Philippians. He is also the author of a major work on the Holy Spirit and the Person of Christ in the letters of Paul.

Gordon Fee served as the general editor of the New International Commentary series, as well as on the NIV revision committee that produced the TNIV. Besides his ability as a biblical scholar, he was a noted teacher and conference speaker. He has given the Staley Distinguished Christian Scholar lectures on fifteen college campuses as well as the annual NT lectures at Southwestern Baptist Seminary, North Park Seminary, the Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary, the Canadian Theological Seminary, Duke Divinity School, Golden Gate Baptist, Anderson School of Theology, Asbury Seminary, and Chrichton College. An ordained minister with the Assemblies of God, Gordon Fee was well known for his manifest concern for the renewal of the church.

Gordon Fee was married and had four married children.

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a collection of articles by Gordon Fee on various topics, most of which have some connection with his theology of the Holy Spirit. As any book composed of separate articles that were not originally intended to be together, it does lack the unifying power of a strong central theme. This aside, this book has provided a much needed scriptural basis for practical Christian living/church body life such as the use of prophecy and speaking in tongues, women in church/ministry, church structure and the ultimate mission of the church.
Fee is one of today's best New Testament scholars and very much a friend to the charismatic church. This book has really helped me on both an intellectual level as well as on a 'heart' level in terms of learning how to build up the church in love and learning how to be part of the body of Christ. Ever since I started reading the book I've been letting my friends read certain chapters of it because it is so helpful for us today. Well done!

[Alec Beeve · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really appreciate Fee’s perspective and think he’s an important, under-appreciated voice in the Christian sphere. He touches on a lot of hot topics here (gender, sexuality, church order, etc.) with care and intentionality. He’s often labeled a Pentecostal because of his emphasis on the Spirit, but his writings shouldn’t be siloed into a charismatic corner. Fee is a biblical scholar and a master exegete. Some essays are more academic and harder to get through than others, but here Fee provides a crucial exploration into the biblical meaning of a “Spiritual” life and its implications.

[Jess Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un receuil d'articles écrit par Gordon Fee. Comme d'habitude Fee est quelqu'un que je trouve très enrichissant et stimulant, même quand je ne suis pas en accord avec ses conclusions.

Je retient particulièrement le chapitre deux ("reflections on commentary writings" où fee partage un petit peu des coulisses derrière l'écriture de ses commentaires).

Ainsi que le chapitre trois "on being a trinitarian Christian"

[Matthew Molloy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic book. Loved his reflections on Exegesis and Spirituality, and his personal stories on writing his commentary in particular.

[Paul Herriott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing yet especially memorable, but it wasn’t a bad collection of essays. It was interesting to see the various areas his writing had taken him.

[Curtis Hefner · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent collection of exegetical essays by Gordon D. Fee on a myriad of topics including the Trinity, Pauline Spirituality, gender issues, early church worship, Glossolalia ("tongues"), the Kingdom of God, and more.

Though the 12 essays are not consistent in style (some were made for reading aloud, others for scholarly publication), all of them are consistent in exegetical/pastoral "voice".
This is a scholarly essay collection with scholarly vocabulary. Thankfully, Greek is used only when necessary to illustrate a point.

I won't waste space or make light of Fee's work with my own paraphrase. But I will make a recommendation:

If you have interest enough in exegesis and the NT's presentation of life in the Spirit to read essays, and if you have patience enough to think about those essays, and if you have character noble enough [Act 17:11] to search the Scriptures for yourself, then you should give this collection a read.

[Élizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting perspective but not what I was expecting. The title is somewhat misleading. I was not a fan of the book's structure.

[Michael Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anything written by Dr. Fee is well worth the time.