The Holy Spirit Before Christianity

With his latest book, The Holy Spirit before Christianity, John R. Levison again changes the face and foundation of Christian belief in the Holy Spirit. The categories Christians have used, the boundaries they have created, the proprietary claims they have made--all of these evaporate, now that Levison has looked afresh at Scripture. In a study that is both poignant and provocative, Levison takes readers back five hundred years before Jesus, where he discovers history's first grasp of the Holy Spirit as a personal agent. The prophet Haggai and the author of Isaiah 56-66, in their search for ways to grapple with the tragic events of exile and to articulate hope for the future, took up old exodus traditions of divine agents--pillars of fire, an angel, God's own presence--and fused them with belief in God's Spirit. Since it was the Spirit of God who led Israel up from Egypt and formed them into a holy nation, now, the prophets assured their hearers, the Spirit of God would lead and renew those returning from exile. Taking this point of origin as our guide, Christian pneumatology--belief in the Holy Spirit--is less about an exclusively Christian experience or doctrine and more about the presence of God in the grand scheme of Israel's history, in which Christianity is ancient Israel's heir. This explosive observation traces the essence of Christian pneumatology deep into the heart of the Hebrew Scriptures. The implications are fierce: the priority of Israelite tradition at the headwaters of pneumatology means that Christians can no longer hold stubbornly to the Holy Spirit as an exclusively Christian belief. But the implications are hopeful as well, offering Christians a richer history, a renewed vocabulary, a shared path with Judaism, and the promise of a more expansive and authentic experience of the Holy Spirit.

Beginning with the Church Fathers and moving right through to the present day, The Holy Spirit offers a theologically informed, international collection of the most important texts relating to Christians' understanding of the Holy Spirit. A new volume of texts and readings offering a chronologically-organized selection of the most important and interesting writings on the Holy Spirit Considers how the Holy Spirit has always been an integral part of both Christian belief and systematic theology - from the Church Fathers through to the present day Each set of readings is prefaced by an introduction from the editor, drawing out the main themes and important historical points, and linking the readings to what has gone before Tackles the disagreements over the role of the Holy Spirit within the Trinity, and how it was a contributing factor in the split between the Western and Eastern Church Opens with a newly-commissioned essay describing the importance of the Holy Spirit in the theology of the last one hundred years, and in particular in relation to the revival of Trinitarian theology

The subject discussed in the following pages cannot occupy a position too prominent in our Christianity, nor can it be a theme presented too frequently for our contemplation. All that we spiritually know of ourselves, all that we know of God, and of Jesus, and his Word, we owe to the teaching of the Holy Spirit; and all the real light, sanctification, strength, and comfort we are made to possess on our way to glory, we must ascribe to Him. - Preface.

It all started on the day of Pentecost. From that day until now the Holy Spirit has been working in the life of the believer, equipping, imparting, teaching, leading, and filling. The believer of Jesus Christ has only to receive from Him the spiritual gifts to function and the spiritual fruit available to live a blessed and successful life. The anointing upon this book will touch your life as you learn about the Holy Spirit, His gifts and His fruit.

One of the most influential evangelical Christian speakers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, R. A. Torrey traveled the world to bring the word of Christ to audiences. Here, in a work first published in 1900, Torrey encourages the faithful to develop a more meaningful relationship with what is perhaps the most enigmatic and most misunderstood member of the Trinity: the Holy Spirit. Positive and heartening, and filled with the author's own personal experiences with the Holy Spirit, this is still a valuable resource for Christians who wish to learn: . the distinction of the Holy Spirit from the Father and Son . the subordination of the Spirit to the Father and Son . the names of the Holy Spirit . the Holy Spirit's work in the material universe . the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit . the Holy Spirit bringing forth Christlike graces of character . the Holy Spirit and the believer's body . the work of the Holy Spirit in Jesus Christ . and much more. American pastor and writer REUBEN ARCHER TORREY (1856-1928) is the author of more than 40 books, including Baptism with the Holy Spirit (1895), What the Bible Teaches (1898), How to Bring Them to Christ (1893), and How to Pray (1900).

This book discusses the scriptural basis for the doctrine of the Holy Spirit; its interpretation in the history of the Church; its formulation in the creeds and confessions; and its application to modern religious movements.