Progressive Mystery

Myk Habets

Description

A careful exploration of how the identity and mission of the Holy Spirit have been progressively revealed throughout Holy Scripture and then interpreted by the Church. The Progressive Mystery describes how the Spirit has been revealed, understood, and interpreted throughout the sweep of Holy Scripture and the ways in which the orthodox understanding of the mission of the Holy Spirit has developed. An ideal entree into the study of pneumatology, it introduces readers to the complex history of the theology of the Holy Spirit. Ideal for students, it takes its place among other introductions to pneumatology, as a readable and reliable guide to an elusive topic.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Christian theology
• Theology
• Christianity

Informations

• Publié par: Lexham Press
• Date de parution: 22 mai 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781683592792
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

The Progressive Mystery
Tracing the Elusive Spirit in Scripture & Tradition
Myk Habets
The Progressive Mystery: Tracing the Elusive Spirit in Scripture and Tradition
Copyright © 2019 Myk Habets
Lexham Press, 1313 Commercial St., Bellingham, WA 98225
LexhamPress.com
All rights reserved. You may use brief quotations from this resource in presentations, articles, and books. For all other users, please write Lexham Press for permission.
Email us at [e-mail]
The Progressive Mystery was originally published by Archer Press (Auckland, NZ) in 2018 (original ISBN 9780473414245).
Print ISBN 9781683592785
Digital ISBN 9781683592792
Cover design by Windsor Creative (copyright ©) not to be reproduced without prior written permission of Lexham Press.
To Tim Meadowcroft on the ocassion of his returement.
List of Abbreviations
ANF
The Ante Nicene Fathers
BibSac
Bibliotheca Sacra
CD
Church Dogmatics , Karl Barth
CH
Christian History
CovQ
Covenant Quarterly
CTJ
Calvin Theological Journal
DCG
A Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels
DJG
Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels
DLNTD
Dictionary of the Later New Testament and its Developments
DPCM
Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements
DPL
Dictionary of Paul and his Letters
EDNT
Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament
EDT
Evangelical Dictionary of Theology
EvQ
Evangelical Quarterly
Exp. T
The Expository Times
fl
flourished, used when exact dates are not known
INT
Interpretation
JBL
Journal of Biblical Literature
JETS
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
JPT
Journal of Pentecostal Theology
JSOT
Journal for the Study of the Old Testament
JTS
Journal of Theological Studies
NICNT
New International Commentary on the New Testament
NICOT
New International Commentary on the Old Testament
NIDCC
The New International Dictionary of the Christian Church
NIDNTT
New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology
NIDOTTE
New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis
NIGTC
New International Greek Testament Commentary
NovT
Novum Testamentum
NPNF 1
The Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church , first series
NPNF 2
The Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church , second series
NTS
New Testament Studies
RevEx
Review and Expositor
RTR
Reformed Theological Review
SBET
The Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology
SJT
The Scottish Journal of Theology
SVTQ
St. Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly
SwJT
Southwestern Journal of Theology
TDNT
Theological Dictionary of the New Testament
TDOT
Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament
TLOT
Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament
TS
Theological Studies
TT
Theology Today
TWOT
Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament
TynBul
Tyndale Bulletin
VoxEv
Vox Evangelica
WBC
Word Biblical Commentary series
WEC
Wycliffe Exegetical Commentary series
WTJ
Westminster Theological Journal
Contents
List of Abbreviations
Acknowledgments
1. Introduction
Part 1: An Old Testament Pneumatology: Tracing the Elusive Spirit
2. The Semantic Range of Ruach
3. The Spirit in Creation
4. The Spirit and the Community
5. The Spirit, Christ, and Consummation
6. The Spirit as Person
7. Intertestamental Progression—From Ruach to Pneuma
Part 2. A New Testament Pneumatology: Confessing the Holy Spirit
8. The Holy Spirit in the New Testament
9. Spirit in Matthew-Mark
10. Spirit in Luke-Acts
11. Spirit in Johannine Literature
12. Spirit in Pauline Literature
13. Spirit in Hebrews and Petrine Epistles
14. Conclusion: Confessing the Holy Spirit
Part 3. The Spirit and the Early Church: Towards Orthodoxy
15. Three Foundational Fathers
16. The Homoousion Framework
17. Heresy Threatening the Foundation
18. Completing the Homoousion Framework
19. Building Upon the Foundation
Part 4. The Spirit and the Contemporary Church: A Third Article Theology
20. Reformed Theology
21. Roman Catholicism: The Ecclesiological Spirit
22. The Renewal Mosaic: Pneumatological Power?
23. Evangelicalism & the Future of Spirit Talk
24. Conclusion
Bibliography
Index
Scripture Index
Acknowledgments
I began to write this book well before it was ever published. At the time, I was moving from what I would now call a warm fundamentalism into an open Evangelicalism; a move that was both personally enriching and intellectually stimulating. I continue to be enriched and stimulated by the triune God of Grace, by Holy Scripture, and by my participation in the Evangelical church; local and global. As part of my own faith development I was prompted (I now know) by the Holy Spirit to know more about who God is and how he works in the world. My Christian worldview was, at the time (and still is, no doubt), too small and needed to be enlarged and inflamed with a fresh vision of who God is in his triune splendour. A significant part of that journey was acquainting myself with the identity and mission of the Holy Spirit. This volume is only a part of that journey which I share with you now.
Many people are to be thanked: my family, especially Odele who supports and challenges me in so many ways, my friends, my church, and my workplace. My early theology tutors deserve special mention, espeically Tim Meadowcroft, a teacher, colleague, and friend. Each one of you has contributed to my own faith development, and for that I thank you. Special thanks go to our family home group (we really need a name!); a place of belonging and friendship. Sharing faith and life together as families has been a blessing.
To those who worked on the production of this book, I thank you, espeically Sarah Snell, and Windsor Creative.
Finally, my thanks and worship go to the Spiritus vivificans , the Holy God who unites us to Christ and with Christ presents us to the Father.
Myk Habets
Doctor Serviens Ecclesiae
Chapter 1
Introduction
It is a well-known and often stated maxim in Christian theology that the identity and mission of the Holy Spirit is consistent throughout the canon of Scripture, and yet at the same time, it is known that the Holy Spirit is revealed progressively throughout that witness. This is not to imply that there is not development within the canon on this theme or that what we now know of the Spirit is all there is to know. Both assumptions are wrong. Rather, the continuity and development of the identity and mission of the Spirit must be closely examined and understood if Christians today are to have any understanding of, and any intimate relationship with, the Holy Spirit of God.
As we near the end of the current renaissance of the Trinity, as it has often been called, a late twentieth, early twenty-first century phenomenon, we are now entering a time where the fruit of that renaissance—good and bad—is being felt across the other theological loci. Pneumatology is not immune to this development. In fact, in light of the focus on the Spirit in contemporary theology it may not be an exaggeration to say that in the early twenty-first century we are facing a renaissance of pneumatology. This is certainly the assessment of at least one significant survey of the Spirit, that of Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen . 1
Many treatments of the Holy Spirit focus on specific themes, or experiences, of the Spirit, and are helpful. However, by not dealing in-depth with the biblical material, pneumatology often suffers caricature and misapplication. In this work, I have sought to linger over the biblical text long enough to see the progressively unfolding revelation of the identity and mission of the Holy Spirit. As such, a biblical theology in Parts 1 and 2 will occupy our attention. Here I take particular notice of the semantic range of the terms ruach and pneuma before looking at the locus of activity of the Spirit in both Old and New Testaments.
Having taught pneumatology for many years, I often encounter the idea that the Spirit is not really present in the Old Testament and as such we need to wait for the New Testament before we can know anything of who the Spirit is and what he does. This is a grave mistake and we are impoverished by it. The Spirit saturates (anoints) the Old Testament. The ruach YHWH is variously presented in the Old Testament as a personification of God’s power exercised in judgment or blessing, it empowers leaders, gives life to creation, is a creative force, is the medium of divine revelation and wisdom, and mediates God’s presence with his people and all creation. The Spirit’s work is pervasive. 2 But who is this Spirit? What is it? Sin and faithlessness grieve the Spirit, sometimes causing the Spirit to withdraw his presence from people. Can this really be a personification? An impersonal force? Not likely. The mission of the Spirit is revealed in the Old Testament in ways which prepare God’s people for a fuller revelation of his identity in the New Testament; but already in the Old Testament the Spirit is a person, fully at work, and fully God.
To concisely order the vast amount of material on the Spirit in the Old Testament, I have chosen to present the work around the ideas of creation, community , and consummation. These three areas are ones in which the Spirit is intensively active and revealing. These three areas are also picked up on and developed in the New Testament. An understanding of the Spirit’s work at creation prefigures the spiritual new creation Jesus offers; and knowing the ways in which God’s Spirit breathes life into creation, and with the Son, brings all things to fulfillment, is a dimension of depth required to understand the New Testament.
Seeing the ways in which the Spirit forms, leads, and indwells the community of Israel; its leaders, artisans, and others, forms the platform for understanding the ways in which the Spirit continues to call people out and f