An internationally respected scholar offers a biblical, historical, and theological assessment of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, focusing on the ecumenical and contextual experiences of the Spirit. This comprehensive review of pneumatology in global perspective examines various theological and denominational understandings of the Spirit, assesses key contemporary theologians of the Spirit, and inquires into several contextual approaches. The new edition has been substantially updated throughout to account for major developments in theology over the past decade and includes added coverage of interfaith issues.

This book discusses the occurrence of angelic imagery in early Christian discourse about the Holy Spirit. Taking as its entry-point Clement of Alexandria s less explored writings, Excerpta ex Theodoto, Eclogae propheticae, and Adumbrationes, it shows that Clement s angelomorphic pneumatology occurs in tandem with spirit christology, within a theological framework still characterized by a binitarian orientation. This complex theological articulation, supported by the exegesis of specific biblical passages (Zech 4: 10; Isa 11: 2-3; Matt 18:10), reworks Jewish and Christian traditions about the seven first-created angels, and constitutes a relatively widespread phenomenon in early Christianity. Evidence to support this claim is presented in the course of separate studies of Revelation, the Shepherd of Hermas, Justin Martyr, and Aphrahat.

St Augustine's pneumatology remains one of his most distinctive, decisive, and ultimately divisive contributions to the story of Christian thought. How did his understanding of the Spirit develop? Why does he identity the Spirit with divine love and cosmic order? And from what personal and literary sources did he receive inspiration? This examination of Augustine's pneumatology - the first book-length study of this important topic available - seeks answers in Augustine's earliest extant writings, penned during the years surrounding his famed return to the Catholic Church and the height of his efforts to synthesize Catholic theology and the Platonic philosophy of his day which had postulated a divine 'trinity' of its own. Careful analysis of these initial texts casts fresh light upon Augustine's more mature and well-known theology of the Holy Spirit while also illuminating on-going discussions about his early thought such as the nature and extent of his Platonic sympathies and the possibility that the recent convert remained committed to the divinity of the human soul.

A study on the pneumatology of the German theologian Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt.

Finny Philip inquires into Paul's initial thoughts on the Holy Spirit. Paul's conviction that he was called to be an apostle to the Gentiles and that God bestowed the Spirit upon the Gentiles apart from Torah obedience is the basis for any inquiry on this subject. Central to Philip's argument is Paul's conviction that God graciously endowed his Gentile converts with the gift of the Spirit, an understanding that is rooted primarily in his conversion experience and secondarily in his experience with and as a missionary of the Hellenistic community in Antioch. In examining the range of expectations of the Spirit that were present in both Hebrew scripture and in the wider Jewish literature, the author comes to the conclusion that such a concept is rare, and that it is usually the covenant community to which the promise of the Spirit is given. Furthermore, Paul's own pre-Christian convictions about the Spirit, a result of his own self-perception as a Pharisee and persecutor of the church, display continuity between his thought patterns and those of Second Temple Judaism. Paul's Damascus experience was an experience of the Spirit. His experience of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 3:1-4:6) provided him with the belief that there was now a new relationship with God, which was possible through the sphere of the Spirit. In addition, Paul was influenced by the Hellenists, whose theological beliefs included the perception of the church as the eschatological temple in which the Spirit of God is the manifest presence of God. It is in these notions that one may trace the origins of Paul's thoughts on the Holy Spirit.

How does the Spirit of God relate to the Bible, to the Christ, to the human person, to the church and to the world? This volume probes these questions in light of the recent worldwide revival of pneumatological reflection and debate.

This handbook provides an interdisciplinary and diverse reference work to the Holy Spirit. Daniel Castelo and Kenneth M. Loyer gathered together a wide range of voices that are religiously, geographically, and ethnically diverse, bringing theology into conversation with biblical studies, ethics and morality, and global Christian studies. The T&T Clark Handbook of Pneumatology examines the Holy Spirit in a variety of sources, such as the Synoptic Gospels, the Catholic Epistles, the Old Testament, and the Hebrew Scriptures. It also includes chapters on key concepts in the field, such as mediation and sacramentality, ecology, and creation. This broad scope enables readers to appreciate how nuanced the field of Pneumatology is, and how it can be relevant for other Christian discourses.