What is the meaning of the Holy Spirit's activity in Luke-Acts, and what are its implications for today? Roger Stronstad offers a cogent and thought-provoking study of Luke as a charismatic theologian whose understanding of the Spirit was shaped wholly by his understanding of Jesus and the nature of the early church. Stronstad locates Luke's pneumatology in the historical background of Judaism and views Luke as an independent theologian who makes a unique contribution to the pneumatology of the New Testament. This work challenges traditional Protestants to reexamine the impact of Pentecost and explores the Spirit's role in equipping God's people for the unfinished task of mission. The second edition has been revised and updated throughout and includes a new foreword by Mark Allan Powell.

"I am quite frankly excited at the appearance of Roger Stronstad's book The Charismatic Theology of St. Luke. Until now people have had to recognize Pentecostalism as a powerful force in the areas of spirituality, church growth, and world mission, but they have not felt it had much to offer for biblical, theological, and intellectual foundations. But this is fast changing, and with the appearance of this book we may be seeing the first motions of a wave of intellectually convincing Pentecostal theology which will sweep in upon us in the next decades."--From the foreword by Clark H. Pinnock In recent years, considerable scholarly discussion has occurred regarding the meaning of the Holy Spirit's activity in Luke-Acts. The Charismatic Theology of St. Luke represents a new and fresh approach to this important issue. At the crux of the controversy is the interpretation of the phrases "baptism in the Holy Spirit" and "filled with the Spirit" as used in Luke-Acts. Roger Stronstad argues that, in an effort to harmonize Lukan and Pauline theology of the Holy Spirit, Luke's charismatic emphases have been improperly forced into a mold. Stronstad offers a cogent and thought-provoking study of Luke as a charismatic theologian, whose understanding of the Spirit shaped wholly his understanding of Jesus and of the nature of the early church. Writing in the spirit of the finest of biblical scholarship, Stronstad challenges, indeed forces, traditional Protestants to reexamine and reconsider the impact of Pentecost.

Since the publication of D. F. Strauss's The Life of Jesus Critically Examined in 1835. New Testament scholarship has devoted an extraordinary amount of energy to the pursuit of the problem of the historical Jesus. In this classic study, originally published in the third edition of the German encyclopedia Religion in Geschicte and Gegenwart. Hanz Conzelmann delineates with brevity and clarity the main outlines of this area of New Testament research and states his own position over against divergent points of view. Norman Perrin, in his Rediscovering the Teachings of Jesus, acknowledged the great importance of this essay and stated that it "demands both translation into English and presentation in a form more readily accessible than that of an article within the pages of a multi-volume learned encyclopedia." Dr. J. Raymond Lord has provided the translation. Dr. John Reumann has adapted the format of the book to the needs of an English-speaking audience and has provided a bibliography that emphasizes the most important and most recent additions to the literature on this subject. -Publisher

Of many possible approaches to the study of the Third Gospel, this author has opted for a thematic approach, realizing that certain aspects of Lucan theology will thereby be highlighted at the expense of others. The examination of many distinct themes, despite their frequent overlapping, favours an appreciation of Lucan theology which is more analytic than synthetic. Notwithstanding the analytic emphasis of the thematic approach, the unity of Lucan theology will inevitably appear, inasmuch as all these themes are ultimately intelligible only as variations on the overriding Lucan theme of salvation in Christ. An intelligent reading of the Gospel presupposes an awareness of the individual writer's themes. These themes intersect and illuminate each other. Several themes often occur in the same periscope. The themes of one Gospel will often be found in the others; however, the perspective of the individual writer will inevitably color their treatment. None of the themes treated in this study has been selected on the assumption that it is exclusively Lucan. This study does not aim at an exhaustive treatment of the themes selected. Such treatment might easily require a book for each theme. An attempt has been made to sketch a sufficiently large number of themes from the third Gospel which as an ensemble might lead to an awareness of their subtle orchestration in the hands of the writer whose theological perspective unidies into a meaningful work of art, intelligence and grace.

Mission of the Messiah is a compelling new study of the Gospel of Luke that presents the messianic mission of Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. This book is a must for anyone whose heart is burning to know and love Christ more profoundly.

The NIV is the world's best-selling modern translation, with over 150 million copies in print since its first full publication in 1978. This highly accurate and smooth-reading version of the Bible in modern English has the largest library of printed and electronic support material of any modern translation.