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The Holy Spirit: In Biblical Teaching, Through the Centuries and Today
The book is divided into three parts. Part One provides a thematic analysis and exegetical commentary on all the relevant biblical and cognate literature, including Josephus, Philo and the Mishnah. Part Two investigates the thinking of key Christian theologians on the Holy Spirit, from the Apostolic Fathers to eighteenth century authors such as John Wesley and Jonathan Edwards. Part Three examines more recent writings on the Spirit, from the nineteenth century onwards, including major systematic theologians such as Schleiermacher, Barth and Moltmann, as well as biblical scholars such as James D G Dunn, Gordon Fee and Gerd Theissen. Thiselton concludes the entire study by identifying seven fundamental themes, and calling for greater dialogue between mainstream scholarship and contemporary leaders of the Pentecostal and Renewal movements.
- GenresTheology
580 pages, Paperback
First published April 30, 2013
About the author
Anthony C. Thiselton
55 books24 followersAnthony Charles Thiselton is emeritus professor of Christian theology at the University of Nottingham and a fellow of the British Academy. His recent publications include Approaching Philosophy of Religion, Discovering Romans, Systematic Theology, The Holy Spirit, and The Last Things.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 2, 2025
The best resource on the scripture and history of Pnuematology that I have ever encountered.
December 3, 2013
What I liked: Thiselton's church history research is fantastic. He combs through church history and writes summaries of the pneumatology of the pre- and post-nicene fathers through the Reformers up through the modern era. The book is worth the price for these summaries alone. He also is mindful of contemporary issues in pneumatology, especially those surrounding Pentecostalism and theology of religions, devotes special attention to those issues in his church history summaries, and then commits significant resources at the end to those same issues.
What I did not like as much: His biblical theology of the Spirit does not match the depth at which he interacts with Church history. It is definitely the weakest part of the book. This is ironic given that the book initially was slated to be only an investigation into the biblical data.
What I did not like as much: His biblical theology of the Spirit does not match the depth at which he interacts with Church history. It is definitely the weakest part of the book. This is ironic given that the book initially was slated to be only an investigation into the biblical data.
March 10, 2023
Dr. Thiselton gives a thorough theology and history of the Holy Spirit. The book was published in 2013, so includes the beginning of the 21st century. The work was grounded in Scripture and well reasoned. The history portion is quite thorough, from church fathers up through the current debates with Pentecostalism and the Renewal Movement. It gives synopses of many key players and influences. The theology is quite mainstream and grounded in historical understanding, yet generous in engaging with opposing viewpoints.
Dr. Thiselton occasionally assumes the reader knows more about particular arguments than I do, it is generally understandable. I am quite happy with the book, and it will be one of my regular references moving forward.
Dr. Thiselton occasionally assumes the reader knows more about particular arguments than I do, it is generally understandable. I am quite happy with the book, and it will be one of my regular references moving forward.
August 2, 2024
Celebrate with me: I just read my first 500-page non-fiction book!
This is quite literally a "handbook encyclopedia" – if such a thing exists – of the development of pneumatology. It certainly lives up to its title.
To undertake such a broad research project without sacrificing incisiveness and clarity is a strength in itself. The book is quite readable and approachable, but for better or for worse it certainly reads like an encyclopedia. I would argue, however, that if the book is to have an argument, it would be something like "look at all the biblical and historical evidence of who the person of the Holy Spirit is and how he behaves, and see that charismatic/Pentecostal and renewal movements are unbiblical at best."
(1) He defends the notion of "biblical" by changing the concept of "presuppositions" (which are generally understood to be fixed and unmoving) to "horizons" (which are subject to correction, especially if we are dealing with a "living text." Very good.
(2) He doesn't like the notion of "spontaneity," specifically as it deals with the charismatic approach to the gifts of the Spirit. To respond here: I'm neither with charismatics nor with Thiselton on this one. "Spontaneity" should not mean "off the cuff, ecstatic utterances" (charismatic perspective) but neither it should mean that every gift of the Spirit is collapsed on human training (Thiselton's perspective). The art of improvisation offers a middle ground in how we ought to understand "spontaneity": a good improvisation is 99% sweat and 1% magic. Of course, this needs to be understood within the context of "call and response" so that whatever "habitual dispositions" we have are really the result of our response to the Spirit's calling. Spontaneity should be conceived, then, as a meeting between the divine and human, where the human has been habitually prepared by the Spirit and the Spirit takes that preparation and uses it for his purposes in a specific moment.
If this definition is too "cryptic," the best way I can convey it is with the feeding of the 5,000: a multitude was hungry. A kid came *prepared.* He gave what he had to Jesus. Jesus blessed it. The multitude ate and were filled. Thus, the meeting between divine grace and human preparation yields blessing to the community.
This concept of "spontaneity" is quite central to Thiselton's work because, as I see it, the whole work is kind of an apologetic response to charismatic and Pentecostal conceptions of the Spirit.
Thiselton does make it clear that he is not "against" charismatic experiences but he does delineates two weakenesses: (1) the charismatic experience should not be called "baptism of/in the Spirit" because that term functions differently in Scripture, though he wants to acknowledge that charismatics *do* experience something, and...
(2) expressions of charismatic worship (repetitive music, lifting of hands, spontaneous praise, etc.) are difficult to ground in the Spirit's action because they cannot be accepted by all Christians. He asks how can the Spirit of unity be behind such a divisive phenomenon? (I'm paraphrasing, of course). In my view, however, this simply betrays Thiselton's own "horizons" and might end up establishing a monolithic expression of worship (which becomes a problem when the expression of worship ends up affirming a monoculture [White]).
Other than that, the work is amazing. If you're interested in pneumatology this is a great biblical and historical overview.
This is quite literally a "handbook encyclopedia" – if such a thing exists – of the development of pneumatology. It certainly lives up to its title.
To undertake such a broad research project without sacrificing incisiveness and clarity is a strength in itself. The book is quite readable and approachable, but for better or for worse it certainly reads like an encyclopedia. I would argue, however, that if the book is to have an argument, it would be something like "look at all the biblical and historical evidence of who the person of the Holy Spirit is and how he behaves, and see that charismatic/Pentecostal and renewal movements are unbiblical at best."
(1) He defends the notion of "biblical" by changing the concept of "presuppositions" (which are generally understood to be fixed and unmoving) to "horizons" (which are subject to correction, especially if we are dealing with a "living text." Very good.
(2) He doesn't like the notion of "spontaneity," specifically as it deals with the charismatic approach to the gifts of the Spirit. To respond here: I'm neither with charismatics nor with Thiselton on this one. "Spontaneity" should not mean "off the cuff, ecstatic utterances" (charismatic perspective) but neither it should mean that every gift of the Spirit is collapsed on human training (Thiselton's perspective). The art of improvisation offers a middle ground in how we ought to understand "spontaneity": a good improvisation is 99% sweat and 1% magic. Of course, this needs to be understood within the context of "call and response" so that whatever "habitual dispositions" we have are really the result of our response to the Spirit's calling. Spontaneity should be conceived, then, as a meeting between the divine and human, where the human has been habitually prepared by the Spirit and the Spirit takes that preparation and uses it for his purposes in a specific moment.
If this definition is too "cryptic," the best way I can convey it is with the feeding of the 5,000: a multitude was hungry. A kid came *prepared.* He gave what he had to Jesus. Jesus blessed it. The multitude ate and were filled. Thus, the meeting between divine grace and human preparation yields blessing to the community.
This concept of "spontaneity" is quite central to Thiselton's work because, as I see it, the whole work is kind of an apologetic response to charismatic and Pentecostal conceptions of the Spirit.
Thiselton does make it clear that he is not "against" charismatic experiences but he does delineates two weakenesses: (1) the charismatic experience should not be called "baptism of/in the Spirit" because that term functions differently in Scripture, though he wants to acknowledge that charismatics *do* experience something, and...
(2) expressions of charismatic worship (repetitive music, lifting of hands, spontaneous praise, etc.) are difficult to ground in the Spirit's action because they cannot be accepted by all Christians. He asks how can the Spirit of unity be behind such a divisive phenomenon? (I'm paraphrasing, of course). In my view, however, this simply betrays Thiselton's own "horizons" and might end up establishing a monolithic expression of worship (which becomes a problem when the expression of worship ends up affirming a monoculture [White]).
Other than that, the work is amazing. If you're interested in pneumatology this is a great biblical and historical overview.
April 16, 2018
I have mixed feelings about Thiselton. On the one hand, his "New Horizons" book on hermeneutics is must reading for pastors and scholars. On the other, he is really an incredibly poor writer and his books are way too quote-heavy and a slog to get through. This book is the same, and while there is valuable information therein, I'm not sure it's really helpful for many people wanting to learn about the Holy Spirit.
September 19, 2017
Huge overview of scholarship relating to the Holy Spirit. The length of the book made it increasingly hard going and as a textbook probably worthwhile but such a topic should be more than simply a text. Wish there had been a balance of ancedotal and illustrative material.
Want to Read
December 12, 2013The 2014 Christianity Today Book Awards: Theology/Ethics
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2...
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2...
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews