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Book Reviews / Pneuma 33 (2011) 427-466
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Eugene F. Rogers, Jr., ed., Te Holy Spirit: Classic and Contemporary Readings (Malden, MS: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009). xvi + 340 pp., $104.95 hardcover; $41.95 paper.
Eugene Rogers follows up his previous pneumatological treatise, After the Spirit: A Con- structive Pneumatology from Resources outside the Modern West (2005), with an anthology of readings on the Holy Spirit extracted from key texts written by theologians and mystics throughout church history into the present. Te selections are arranged in eight categories: two — the first and the last — are chronological (late-twentieth century), five are geo- graphic/linguistic (Syriac, early Greek, Latin, German, and Russian and Romanian), and one is on the mystical tradition. Te helpfulness of the distinction between the mystical writings and the other texts is questionable. While it is true that the mystical extracts, which focus on the union of the human with the divine, tend to be more experiential in nature, they do contain significant theological insights. Further, since several of the other texts, particularly those that deal with deification or theosis, suggest that union with God is the ultimate soteriological goal, it seems that theology that emerges from mystical or other spiritual — even Pentecostal or charismatic — experience should be considered the norm rather than the exception, especially since theology constructed solely or primarily on prop- ositional thought has not always been that fruitful.
Rogers’ collection as a whole is exquisite reading. Among the classic excerpts are Ephrem the Syrian’s Hymn on Virginity, Basil of Caesarea’s On the Holy Spirit, Augustine’s Homily on the First Epistle of John, Rupert of Deutz’ “Te Holy Spirit Hovers over Baptism,” Vladimir Lossky’s “Redemption and Deification,” and John of the Cross’s “Te Inhalation of the Air” in Te Spiritual Canticle, to name a few. Among the contemporary essays are Robert Jen- son’s “You Wonder Where the Spirit Went,” which describes the weaknesses of Karl Barth’s pneumatology, and Richard Norris’s “Trinity,” an especially insightful piece. For each of the texts Rogers supplies an introductory essay, placing them in context and drawing out their significance. Since most of the texts are products either of classic Trinitarianism or the contemporary Trinitarian revival, an unspoken message of the anthology is that pneumatol- ogy should not be pursued apart from a strong Christology.
Unfortunately, not a single selection in the collection is written by an author identified as a Pentecostal or a Charismatic, or at least none that Rogers identifies as such. In fact, only one of the selections addresses the current flood of scholarly pneumatological thought inspired by the Charismatic Renewal — Rowan Williams’ “Word and Spirit.” True, the Church of England Doctrine Commission essay, “Charismatic Experience,” is a field study of a charismatic Anglican church and an independent fellowship recently splintered from it. But even that essay involves interviews only of charismatic clergy and lay persons, giving no voice to Pentecostal scholars. Similarly, Williams makes no effort to describe the so- called new “Spirit-theologies” to which he refers but rather concentrates on warning of the various theological dangers that he perceives to be inherent in them, among them being the “trivializing [of] the whole of theological anthropology” (55), “the association of Spirit exclusively or chiefly with the more dramatic charismata” (60), and seeing “the Spirit in second-century style as a secondary mediator” (62). In fact, Williams argues against what he calls pneumatology “cast in . . . a Lukan mould,” asserting that, for Paul, “the eschato- logical character of the Spirit . . . has nothing intrinsically to do with extraordinary charis-
© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2011 DOI: 10.1163/157007411X602925
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Book Reviews / Pneuma 33 (2011) 427-466
mata” but rather with the “identification by grace with the obedience of God’s Son” (59). Tus Williams deftly bypasses the point that Pentecostals such as Howard M. Ervin, Robert Menzies, James B. Shelton, and Roger Stronstad have made in their decades-long debate with James Dunn regarding the importance of respecting the pneumatological perspectives of both Luke and Paul rather than forcing all of New Testament pneumatology into a Pau- line mold. In fact, Williams goes so far as to accuse Pentecostals of doing the reverse, i.e. Lukanizing pneumatology. Even if at times his observations are valid, it seems unfair to dismiss Pentecostal scholarship so perfunctorily.
Perhaps the most telling text in the volume is the excerpt from Stephen Fowl’s “How the Spirit Reads and How to Read the Spirit.” Tis text reflects the editor’s (Rogers’) continued interest in finding theological warrant for same-sex marriage as revealed in two of Rogers’s earlier works: Sexuality and the Christian Body: Teir Way into the Triune God (1999), and Teology and Sexuality: Classic and Contemporary Readings (2002). In the text at hand, Fowl draws a parallel between Gentiles and homosexuals, arguing that just as the Holy Spirit led the early Christians to accept Gentiles into the Church without circumcision, so perhaps now the Holy Spirit is leading Christians to accept believing homosexuals into the Church without requiring a change in lifestyle. It is of special concern to those who argue for listen- ing to the Spirit as a means of discerning God’s will as well as interpreting Scripture to see how Fowl deploys the same method for “reading the Spirit,” that is, by listening with an open mind to the testimonies of homosexuals (305). What Fowl does not address is the argument that, in the case of the Gentiles, the early Church set aside only a ceremonial law, not a moral precept.
While in good conscience I cannot recommend this anthology as a text for an under- graduate class, I do think it would be appropriate to use in a graduate course. As stated earlier, many of the texts are theologically exquisite selections whose reading would profit virtually anyone, while the controversial selections could be read as examples of the impor- tance of theological and biblical hermeneutics as well as catalysts for reflection and discussion.
Reviewed by Sally Jo Shelton
Librarian/Assistant Professor, Oral Roberts University, Tulsa, Oklahoma PhD candidate, Regent University, Virginia Beach, Virginia [email protected]
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