Ronald A. N. Kydd, Charismatic Gifts In The Early Church (Peabody, Mass. Hendrickson Publishers, 1984) 100 Pp., Paperback. ISBN 091 3573 09 4

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70

(Peabody,

Gifts

in the

Early

Church

Ronald A. N.

Kydd,

Charismatic

Mass.: Hendrickson

Publishers, 1984)

100

pp., paper- back. ISBN 091-3573-09-4

Reviewed

by

David

Bundy

Pentecostal

historiography published

81-82).

Both books tradition

presentations: Charismatic, ‘”.Scottish “Origen

and the 111-116.

Kydd

continues a revision

of

of the author’s

doctoral

disser-

30 (1977), 313-318 and

“charismatic

Kydd’s

volume on the

early

church

which has been seen in the

previously

work of

Stanley

M.

Burgess (see

Pneuma 7:1 ( 1985),

reflect a

rejection

of the

history

of heresies

and the identification with the main

body

of Christian historiography.

This volume is a popularisation

tation

presented

for the Ph.D. at the

University

of St. Andrews in Scotland. Two

portions

were

published

earlier in more

scholarly

“Novation’s De

Trinitate,

29: Evidence for the

Journal of Theology

Gifts of the

Spirit,” tglise

et

Théologie

13 ( 1982),

The work reflects the careful

scholarly

work for which Dr.

has become known.

Formerly

a

professor

and dean at Central Pentecostal

College

in

Canada,

the author is

currently pastor

of a church in

Ontario,

Canada.

The method of presentation is to describe the church of the first three centuries as reflected in

patristic

The order of presentation

logical beginning

with the

enigmatic

Didache

(Teaching of

the Twelve

Apostles)

and Clement of Rome

continuing through

of Alexandria and Firmilian. A total of nineteen

of

materials)

above, Ignatius of Antioch, Hermas,

Montanism, Celsus,

Eusebius of

gifts”.

Origen, Dionysius

authors

(or groups addition to those mentioned Justin

Martyr,

Caesarea, Theodotus, the Odes

of Solomon work and

prosopography

of

addressing

texts which allude to

is basically chrono-

are discussed

including,

in

Irenaeus, of

Rome, Tertullian,

Cyprian,

Hippolytus

and the

Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles.

The

each of these writers is fraught with historiographical problems

and

Kydd

does a credible

job

of

these in lay language.

Appended

notes

(pp. 88-100)

are often

quite helpful.

One wishes that the

dialogue

with current scholarly patristic

research had been carried out

there, especially where

Kydd accepts

the standard received

Anglo-Saxon

traditions

for

example,

the Odes

of Solomon, Origin

and

Originism

Montanus. That

aside,

each

vignette

is a nearly self-contained

with

many

well-translated

quotations

from

patristic

about,

and

discussion

texts.

A presentation

address an issue with

implications

of the literature of earlier centuries,

especially

to

is not an

for

contemporary

life,

1

71

easy

task. The work of Dr.

Kydd,

while

admirable,

raises for the reviewer the

question:

What did the

phenomena

described as “charismatic

gifts”

mean for the

early

writers and how did

they function? It would

appear

that for

Hermas, Clement

of Rome and Ignatius

of Antioch

(to

mention the three earliest works

discussed) the charismata were more than

aspects

of

liturgy

and

group (or individual) spirituality. They

were also

metaphors

for social control and functioned to give the Christian associations structures and a means of representing the

group

to the world. Elective and appointive

offices

complicated

the issue

(cf. Actso.

The

Bishops and other officers were considered

appointed by

God. The issue came to a head when the

“pneumatic”

filled with the

Spirit disagreed

with the

Bishop

who was filled with the same

Spirit!

Secondly,

what does the shift in language about

“spiritual gifts” actually

mean for the

community?

Can it not be argued that there was a

continuity

of concerns

by

the

development

of different vocabulary

and

expressions?

One finds in the fourth

century writings of Chrysostom,

the

Cappadocians

and

Cyril

of Jerusalem a careful

rigorous spirituality;

and it was the church of the fourth century

which defined the

functioning

and

divinity

of the

Holy Spirit

and in the centuries which followed their

spiritual

heirs took the Christian

gospel

to the “ends of the earth.” What

sociological, ecclesiological

and

political

realities made the continued use of “gift

filled life”

language

less effective’?

These

questions

are not so much criticisms of Dr.

Kydd’s work as they

are

suggestions

for

profitable

avenues of research. It is hoped that Dr.

Kydd

will continue his

study

of

patristic spirituality.

.

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