The Holy Spirit 1: Conceived by the Holy Spirit
Under the modern evangelical paradigm there are three main components to the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. First, the Spirit is understood to be the third person of the Trinity. Secondly, the Spirit is...
View ArticleThe Holy Spirit 2: He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire
Why might we be interested in what the New Testament has to say about the Holy Spirit? Probably because we want to know how the church is supposed to function, or how to correct some charismatic excess...
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The Holy Spirit 3: This is my beloved Son
Moving on from John’s assertion that the coming Christ will baptize Israel “with the Holy Spirit and fire”, we come directly to the account of Jesus’ own baptism. As Matthew tells the story, Jesus...
View ArticleMore on the virgin conception
There’s been a lengthy discussion of my post on the virgin conception by the Holy Spirit on the Theologica forum. I wrote some fairly random comments in response, but there are a lot of hoops to jump...
View ArticleThe Holy Spirit 4: The Spirit given to the servant of YHWH
There is remarkably little in the Gospels that directly links Jesus’ ministry to the activity of the Holy Spirit. He is driven into the wilderness by the Spirit (Matt. 4:1); he returns to Galilee “in...
View ArticleThe Holy Spirit 5: the eschatological significance of Pentecost
For readers looking simply for a finished ecclesiology the events of the day of Pentecost simply kick off the institution of the church in dramatic fashion. They are proof that the church is something...
View ArticleThe Holy Spirit 6: The power to speak with boldness
I argued with respect to Pentecost that the outpouring of the Spirit was interpreted by Peter as an eschatological rather than ecclesiological phenomenon. It was a sign—not least because the Spirit was...
View ArticleThe Holy Spirit 7: The Gentiles get in on the action
I’m currently in Sulaymaniyah in the Autonomous Region of Kurdistan in northern Iraq with my wife, meeting some extraordinary people who are doing some extraordinary things. I say that partly to...
View ArticleHow might the post-charismatic “missional” church rediscover the gifts of the...
We had an interesting session on the gifts of the Spirit last night in Harlesden. Many in the church are from a charismatic background but seemed wary about pursuing the conversation. One young woman...
View ArticleMissional pneumatology: is the Spirit active outside the church?
The piece I wrote last week on the difficulties that post-charismatics can have finding an honest place for the gifts of the Spirit in a justice-oriented “missional” framework provoked a rather...
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Richard Hays: how is it that Jesus gets to pour out the Spirit of God?
Another questionable line of interpretation, if I may make so bold….Jesus says to his disciples, “I will give you a mouth and a wisdom that none of those who oppose you will be able to stand against or...
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Tongues of fire
Holy SpiritProphecySomeone asked me yesterday whether “tongues as of fire” (Acts 2:3) points to the fact that the disciples were to proclaim that the kingdom of God was coming, meaning judgment on...
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