The Holy Spirit: An Introduction

Short Studies in Systematic Theology

by Fred Sanders, Oren R. Martin (Editor), Graham A. Cole (Editor)

Understanding the Work and Power of the Holy Spirit in Scripture  Though he is right at the heart of everything in theology and faith, the Holy Spirit can be hard to focus on. In this addition to the Short Studies in Systematic Theology series, Fred Sanders teaches his readers how to hold a proper biblical understanding of both the person and power of the Holy Spirit.  New believers and seasoned saints alike will learn about the Holy Spirit’s work in the cosmos, salvation history, and God’s plans for the future. To accomplish this, Sanders explains the doctrine of the Holy Spirit in relation to the Trinity, the Old Testament, and the New Testament. In this short introduction readers will gain a better theological grasp of the Holy Spirit and instruction on why he matters for the Christian life. 

Genres: Theology, Christian, Spirituality, Audiobook

192 pages, Paperback

Published October 3, 2023

About the author

Fred Sanders is professor of theology at Biola University's Torrey Honors College.

Reviews

[Matt Pitts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal. This is now easily my favorite book on the Holy Spirit and the first one I’d recommend. Sanders is a first-rate author, teacher, and theologian who brings his gifts to bear on a subject (indeed a divine person) many Christians feel they do not understand.

From the beginning the book is clear and compelling, but Sanders may have saved the best for last. The final chapter and the appendix (Rules for thinking well about the Holy Spirit) are fantastic.

I’m so grateful for this series which has pulled together exceptional theologians to write short and accessible yet deep and profound works for the church.

Note: I received a complementary copy from the publisher but was not required to provide a positive review.

[Ched Spellman · Rating 5 out of 5]

My new favorite little book on the Spirit.

[Riley Carpenter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is shockingly good. I found Sanders gave some of the most thoughtful answers to perplexing questions we all have when thinking about the Holy Spirit. One of my favorites reads of the year.

[Samuel G. Parkison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend

[Brett Wiley · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️ This is an excellent introduction to the person and work of the Holy Spirit by an incredibly capable theologian in Fred Sanders. If you haven’t read his book, The Deep Things of God, you should. Sanders is always excellent on the Doctrine of God and articulating the orthodox view of the Trinity.

He helped me to sharpen my own thinking of the Holy Spirit in this book, and I will definitely use it as a resource moving forward as I seek to help others think rightly about the Spirit. If every Christian in the world would read his 27 Rules for Thinking Well about the Holy Spirit at the end of the book and follow them, most false teachings and beliefs about the Spirit (those that overemphasize the Spirit in ways he never would or never does in the Scripture, and those that underemphasize or under-employ the Spirit in ways that make him some less than divine and central to the work of God) would cease.

As Sanders says, “The Holy Spirit is always already. When you become aware of the presence of the Holy Spirit, you become aware that he was present before you became aware. More than that, the spiritual awareness into which you wake up is itself, you come to learn, wrought by the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit always goes before you and prepares you to meet him when you arrive where he is. He is, to use a theological term, the prevenient person in our experience of the Trinity—he goes before. We are always playing catch-up.”

[Jake · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best one I have read in this series. Excellent.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding!

[Christian · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent introduction. A few topics I wanted him to talk about weren't discussed, but it's a great resource.

[Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was surprised by how profound this book is; surprised because I don't have high expectations of Short Introduction type of books, not because Fred Sanders is anything but excellent. Sanders situates pneumatology within Trinitarianism to wonderful effect. He has a very helpful way of thinking about the Holy Spirit when NT epistles often only mention the Father and Son. And, as always, his genius is in his accessible pedagogy: this book is very readable.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, so good.

[Landon Coleman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful. Sanders is gold on anything relating to the Trinity. This book is mercifully short and tremendously deep. I'm thankful that I read this book before launching into a sermon series on the Holy Spirit. Highly recommend.

[Jimmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Are you looking for a summary book on the Holy Spirit under two hundred pages? This is a book I recommend. This is from the Short Studies in Systematic Theology series from Crossway and it’s the first volume I read from this series. I was interested to see if it would be as good as the Short Studies in Biblical Theology Series that I have immensely enjoyed reading for years from the publisher.
After the series preface and introduction there is five chapters. The first chapter is “Meeting the Holy Spirit” and the next one is on the Holy Spirit in the Trinity. With the Holy Spirit situated in the Trinitarian context chapter three and four is on the Holy Spirit’s relationship with the Father and Son respectively. Chapter five is “The Holy Spirit Himself” and there’s an appendix on rules for thinking well about the Holy Spirit. I also think the Further Reading is helpful to know about other books of the Holy Spirit with the author Fred Sanders giving a short summary of the book’s contribution to the scholarship on the Holy Spirit.
There are good things I learn from this book. In particular I thought the book’s approach of the need for a Trinitarian background before talking about the Spirit was extremely helpful. Sanders did a good job explaining inseparable operation in which any activity of One Member of the Trinity involves the other Members of the Trinity. The order of “from the Father, through the Son, in the Spirit” can be remember with the three preposition of “from, through, in” (50). The other discussion that I thought was interesting was how the author acknowledges and handled passages of the Holy Spirit that seems personal and impersonal. What I mean by impersonal is description of the Spirit as water, fire, oil (129). I don’t want to give too much of the book away but I think Sanders gave a great response to the view that takes the Spirit impersonally.
This is a good book and those wanting to go deeper on a historic and biblical view of the Holy Spirit will benefit from reading this.

[Tim Michiemo · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.6 Stars

“The Holy Spirit: An Introduction” by Fred Sanders is a phenomenal work on the Holy Spirit. Sanders’ thesis is that much that we know about the Holy Spirit we already know because of the salvation we have received from the Father through the Son. The Holy Spirit is not some ethereal entity that we have to ascend to some higher plain of knowledge to know, but He is know in the work of the Father and the Son. Thus the whole structure of Sander’s introductory work is Trinitarian; we know the Holy Spirit in his relation to the Trinity, to the Father, to the Son, and in Himself. What we get in this book is a well rounded theological book that has some great applications that challenged me.

One application is the danger that can come from elevating the Holy Spirit too highly. The Spirit’s work is to elevate the Son so that we may know the Father, and when we overemphasize the Holy Spirit (like praying directly to Him, or seeking ecstatic spiritual experiences) we actually miss out on the Holy Spirits actual role. When we worship the Father through the Son, we don’t miss out on the Holy Spirit, but are experiencing Him because we can only worship God by the Spirit - he is involved in everything.

I enjoyed this book very much. I believe this is probably the book I will recommend first as an entry level introduction on the Holy Spirit. I encourage every Christian to read it and worship the Father, through the Son by the Spirit.

[Emily Tucker · Rating 4 out of 5]

The content is solid and his approach is helpful. He addresses the Spirit by addressing His relation to the Father and the Son. His main idea is that Spirit can be difficult to pinpoint and see because he is pervasive in everything. For instance, the Spirit doesn’t often directly speak in Scripture, yet he has inspired all of Scripture.
I was expecting more substance and original ideas from this book. I was benefited more by the quotes than Sanders own writing. And his points, although good and solid, were redundant. He also did more talking about talking about the Holy Spirit than actually unpacking the riches of the Spirit from Scripture.

[Tara Wolfe · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The Holy Spirit makes himself known to us in a way that is better than we could have expected or imagined for ourselves. He is the prevenient person, always already at work, never Father-free or Sonless in his being or in his work, closer to us than our own breath, making known to us in the depths of our selves the deep things of God.”

[Mitchell Dixon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just a wonderful introduction to the Holy Spirit.

[Brenden Wentworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars, for chapter lengths of 30-40 pages haha

Content wise, Sanders knocked it out of the park!

He’s very easy to read and easy to understand and this truly is a very deep introduction.
The biggest thing I appreciated was that he grounded, the person and work of the Holy Spirit in the Trinity, first and foremost.
Sanders points out that the true setting for the study of the Spirit must first flow from a correct understanding of the Trinity.
Sanders goes from there into understanding the Spirits’s relation and mission respective to both the Father and the Son, as well as then Himself. “He is a person that often desires to appear impersonal”.

Is this a problem? Not necessarily once you come to realize that the chief work of the Spirit is both to deflect the believers attention to the glorious Father and Son, as well as apply the salvation work that was planned and accomplished. And yet believers must dogmatically affirm that He is fully and completely God equally with Father and Son, and as the Nicene creed says, He is thus to be worshiped and glorified.

Sanders very concisely and helpfully describes the Spirit’s appropriated work as completion and application of what the Father planned, and the Son accomplished, while obviously recognizing inseparable operations

Overall, phenomenal book and I highly recommend for someone wanting a strong understanding of the Holy Spirit!

[Simon Field · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I could give this work more stars! It really is an excellent book which explores that role of the Holy Spirit in a trinitarian fashion. In other words this book doesn't simply explore the works of the Spirit in list form (although Sanders recognises that we are resigned to lists when describing the work of the Spirit unlike in Christology), instead the book shows how the Spirit relates to the Father and Son as eternal God.

Sanders develops his theology by leaning on teaching from the centuries to spotlight the prominence of the Spirit and yet explain why at multiple times in the epistles Paul seems content to only refer to the Father and the Son.

The appendix on how to think well about the Spirit is a brilliant summary of the book- great for referring back to.

[Jonathan Suggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so refreshing! Many books on the Holy Spirit give mere lip service to His relation in the Trinity, but then spend the bulk of the pages in other debated conversations such as the spiritual gifts. While those are important topics, it seems to Sanders this approach isn’t “Spiritual” enough. Primarily because it doesn’t let the Spirit show what’s most important to Him about Himself. For that reason, 3/4 of this book considered how the Spirit’s relation to the Trinity, the Father, and the Son inform His identity and His all-important work in salvation and the Christian life.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to know the Spirit better!

[Alex Blount · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sanders accomplishes a depth that’s surprising and refreshing for such a brief work. He remains accessible while not shying away from higher level systematic topics. A great brief intro. His exploration of the Spirit’s role in the munus triplex is especially insightful.

[Danieltituscom · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic "introduction" to the Holy Spirit. I cannot recommend it enough. Sanders takes what every Christian likely already knows about the Holy Spirit, and brings it into light showing its beauty, worth, sufficiency, and perfection.

[Scott Bielinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply outstanding.

[Kyle Brewer]

Wonderfully helpful book. A great continuation of Sanders’ project in The Deep Things of God.

[Guy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional. Maybe my favorite thus far in this great Crossway series, which is saying something. Theologically precise, deeply rooted in church history, uniquely organized with a trinitarian shape, this was a joy to read. Chapter 2 alone, on the Holy Spirit in the Trinity, is worth the price of the entire book.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good, though rough sledding/difficult at times, especially the chapters on the Holy Spirit and the Son. But the final chapter and Appendix were worth the price of admission.

[John Andrew Szott III · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short, delightful book marked by clarity and rich theology!

[Jeremy Fritz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great intro to the doctrine of the Holy Spirit!

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent overview of the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional book. It is nearly more of an introductory study on the trinity than it is on the Holy Spirit. But the author explains why that approach is necessary and logical. It introduced to me some vocabulary (e.g. inseparable operations, appropriation) that helped me better understand ideas I am familiar with but at times still struggle to understand. I think that after reading this, one will have a better grasp of how to conceptualize many things as coming from the Father, through the Son, and in the Spirit.

[Hobart · Rating 5 out of 5]

★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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This book introduces Christians to the Holy Spirit, which is a cheeky thing to do.

By definition, every Christian must already know the Holy Spirit in the most important way, since “anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him” (Rom. 8:9). So to publish a book for Christian readers under the title The Holy Spirit: An Introduction is to take on a peculiar project: introducing readers to somebody they already know. That is exactly what this book does. It presupposes that its readers are already engaged with the reality of the Holy Spirit and invites them to a theological encounter with that person.

WHAT'S THE HOLY SPIRIT: AN INTRODUCTION ABOUT?
It's kind of summarized there in that last sentence: it's an introductory work on the theology of the Holy Spirit assuming that the reader knows Him already, but needs to understand Him, His identity, and His work more fully.

As it's an Introduction (like all the books in this series), and therefore accessible which is nice—but it does a thorough job of talking about things like the Doctrine of the Trinity and how it is informed by and informs our Theology of the Spirit.

SANDERS' APPROACH
Rather than try to paraphrase or summarize Sanders, let me just let him describe the design of the book:

But my approach in this book is, as I said above, indirect, which is why I began by highlighting the paradoxical character of studying the Holy Spirit. I hope to treat the paradoxical character of pneumatology not as a hindrance to be lamented but as a help to be cherished. If knowledge of the Holy Spirit is, in the ways described above, deflective, reflexive, and connective, then an introduction to the Holy Spirit might deliver a great deal of insight by arranging itself in a corresponding way. Think of the implications that follow from the work of the Spirit being deflective, reflexive, and connective. Deflective means that when you try to think about the Spirit, you find the Spirit himself changing the subject to the Father and the Son. Reflexive means that when you try to think about the Spirit, you find the Spirit himself requiring you to think about yourself and about thinking. Connective means that when you try to think about the Spirit, the Spirit himself draws you out into the full scope of all theology. But these things are all beneficial! To study the Holy Spirit according to his own characteristic way of working means to be personally engaged in a total Trinitarian encounter with the truth of God, We will engage the deflective character of pneumatology.

Many books about Him focus on things like how the Spirit acts in the world today, the gifts of the Spirit—what that phrase means and how one obtains them—the role of Pentecost and how it can/if it can be duplicated today, and so on. Sanders eschews that—focusing on more primary issues (which isn't to say he doesn't get into some of that). He starts looking at the Trinity, then he considers the Spirit in relation to the Father—and how by doing so we can gain a better understanding of them both. Then he moves on to the Spirit in relation to the Son—how that's similar and how that relationship is different than the previous. The final chapter considers the Spirit Himself—yes, addressing some of the same information, but from a different angle.

BONUS MATERIAL
As with many (sadly, not all) of this series, this comes with a nifty-looking Further Reading list—one I fully intend to use.

But the additional material I want to talk about is the Appendix, "Rules for Thinking Well about the Holy Spirit." These are 27 brief rules that so usefully summarize the material in the book—and related ideas—for believers to bear in mind as we read Scripture or theology while working through doctrines/ideas about the Spirit. These rules are the kind of thing that students would do well to pin a copy of onto their wall/somewhere in easy reach.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT: AN INTRODUCTION?

The Holy Spirit makes himself known to us in a way that is better than we could have expected or imagined for ourselves. He is the prevenient person, always already at work, never Father-free or Sonless in his being or in his work, closer to us than our own breath, and making known to us in the depths of our selves the deep things of God.

This is definitely one of my top 3 books in this series—possibly the best thing in it so far.

Sanders's tone is certainly engaging—he never loses sight of the importance of what he's talking about, and the necessary reverence. But he's okay with being chatty and a little witty with the reader. He's able to break down some complicated and technical points in a way that the reader can find them understandable and compelling.

I really appreciated his approach—both in the way he focused on what he chose to and those things he didn't seem that interested in writing about. I'm sure others would disagree with me, but it looks like he majored on the major issues and didn't bother with the minor ones.

I'm not sure that this will supplant Ferguson's The Holy Spirit in my own use and reference when it comes to pneumatology—but I can't see me looking into Ferguson's without looking into this next.

Get your hands on it, and be introduced to Someone you're already close to.