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Who's Afraid of the Holy Spirit?

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In 1993, Chuck Swindoll authored "Flying Closer to the Flame: A Passion for the Holy Spirit." What that book was for the general non-charismatic Protestant lay person, "Who's Afraid of the Holy Spirit?" is for the scholarly non-charismatic Protestant pastor, professor, and student.

The co-editors, Wallace and Sawyer, along with the nine other contributing authors, all write from the cessationist theological camp. Cessationists believe that the Bible teaches that the sign gift ministry of the Holy Spirit ceased at the close of the New Testament canon. These sign gifts (such as the gift of healing, miracle working, speaking in tongues, prophecy, etc.) were given to authenticate the apostolic ministry and message of inspired Scripture and not meant to be ongoing aspects of the Spirit's ministry in the believer throughout church history.

The purpose of "Who's Afraid of the Holy Spirit?" is not to provide theological support for that view. Instead, that view is assumed. Rather, the purpose is to stretch their fellow cessationists to consider the ongoing, active, powerful, personal presence and ministry of the Spirit today in the experiential life of the non-charismatic Christian.

Wallace and Sawyer launch their edited work with candid narratives of their personal experience in the cessationist camp. When life crisis struck, their personal, academic approach to the Spirit was found wanting. At the same time, their theological convictions did not allow for a charismatic experience of the Spirit. Out of that tension, this book was born. How does a non-charismatic cessationist experience the power and presence of the Holy Spirit?

The eleven assembled cessationist scholars address that question theologically, historically, and personally. As with any collaborative book, the linkage between various chapters can be choppy and the value of diverse chapters varies. However, over all, readers are exposed to a wide assortment of important theological examinations.

Before a summary overview, readers should understand, as noted in the opening paragraph of this review, that this book is not for those disinclined toward scholarly detail. Swindoll's book, though fifteen years old, is still the place to go for the lay non-charismatic wanting a practical theology of the Holy Spirit.

One of the central issues addressed is summarized by several of the authors in the disturbing picture of the cessationist "Trinity": Father, Son, and Holy Scripture." Yes, you read that right--Holy Scripture. Wallace and his co-writers sense that for many non-charismatics the Holy Scriptures have replaced the Holy Spirit. The authors ask readers to consider what the role of the Spirit is in their lives now that the canon is completed.

Wallace's chapter on the witness of the Spirit in Romans 8:16 is core to that discussion. In a nutshell, Wallace presents a joint ministry of Spirit and Scripture. Believers have confidence that they are Christians based upon the objective testimony of Scripture and the subjective witness of the Spirit. This dual, mingled role of Spirit and Scripture is emphasized throughout "Who's Afraid of the Holy Spirit?"

Richard Averbeck, in his chapter on "God, People, and the Bible," does a fine job exploring the relationship between illumination and biblical scholarship. He also does an excellent job convicting the typical evangelical scholar of his/her failure to be dependent upon and open to the Spirit in the scholarly process.

"The Spirit in the Black Church" by Willie Peterson is one of those "worth the price of the book" chapters. For anyone wanting a handle on how black cessationist evangelicals handle the "tension" between the experience of the Spirit and the cessation of the sign gifts, this is the chapter to read. Peterson's blending of history, theology, culture, and current ministry is example-setting.

David Eckman's chapter on "The Holy Spirit and Emotions" should be required reading for all seminary professors, students, pastors, and Christian counselors. It provides the seeds for a much needed evangelical theology of emotions. Emotional intelligence has been a buzz word in secular writing for nearly two decades. Yet the Christian community still has not offered a practical biblical theology of emotionality. Eckman has laid the foundation.

Co-editor James Sawyer's concluding chapter "The Father, the Son, and the Holy Scriptures?" powerfully encapsulates the message of the book. Sawyer journeys with readers on an important historical trek which opens eyes to why cessationists have become so afraid of the Holy Spirit. His fascinating and ironic premise is that the same evangelicals who decry how the Enlightenment influenced liberal Christianity, were themselves influenced by Enlightenment rationalism. Ouch. You have to read it to appreciate it.

Overall, "Who's Afraid of the Holy Spirit?" is a timely book that has already stirred up much needed conversation. Admittedly, a few chapters were uneven at times--seeming not to fit the overall flow of the book--as if they had been written for other venues (which is most likely true) and woven into the fabric of this book. Yet, that is minor in the overall scope of this important contribution to the field.

Perhaps the true "criticism" I have about this book is its failure to provide a "spiritual theology of the Holy Spirit." Before I explain that, I should say that in fairness to the authors, that was not the full intention of this book. So, my encouragement would be that they rejoin to write "volume two."

As I think about the theological process, I see at least four "types" of theologies: academic, historical, practical/pastoral, and spiritual. Academic theology (including systematic, biblical, exegetical, and lexical) explores the "What?" questions. As the label suggests, it is academic in nature. This book does a splendid job exploring the academic theology of the Holy Spirit from a cessationist perspective.

Historical theology explores the development of doctrine over time. It asks the "What then?" questions. This book also does an excellent job uncovering and presenting the doctrine of the Holy Spirit in the evangelical tradition.

Spiritual theology asks the "So what?" questions. What are the implications for our lives of the academic truths discovered in the text? "Who's Afraid of the Holy Spirit?" did a commendable job challenging readers to consider such implications. It presented many categories for the cessationist Christian to think through.

Practical/pastoral theology asks the "What now?" questions. How do we personally apply and how do we disciple, mentor, and guide others in the application of the text? Here is where I felt a level of disappointment with the book. As a pastor/counselor/professor/soul physician, I wanted more practical direction. We learned what not to do. We even learned what areas to think through. But we readers were not given many pictures of what this actually looks like in daily existence. We were not given many models of discipleship ministry. What exactly does it look like to equip and empower cessationist Christians to be filled with the Spirit, to be led by the Spirit, to express the fruit of the Spirit. While some of these topics were broached, the focus often failed to address fully the practical "what now?" questions. Again, no one book can "do it all." But a book emphasizing how cessationists can and should experience the empowering presence of the Spirit could "go there." I hope the next volume does so to a greater extent. That said, I still highly recommend this book. It deserves all five of its stars.

Reviewer: Bob Kellemen, Ph.D., is the author of "Beyond the Suffering," "Soul Physicians," and "Spiritual Friends."

This book is highly recommended for the seminarian, scholar or lay-person who seeks to understand the role of the Holy Spirit in the everyday life of a believer. While the book is written from a cessationist standpoint, the contributors argue that the third person of the Trinity is indispensible for the proper study of the Bible, for a right understanding of our emotions, for authentic worship in the local church, and for a Christ-centered love of all people. Of special note are Wallace's essay on "The Witness of the Holy Spirit in Rom 8:16," Averbeck's piece entitled "God, People, and the Bible," and Willie O. Peterson's work on "The Spirit in the Black Church." Perhaps the most moving section of the book, though, is Wallace's introduction entitled "The Uneasy Conscience of a Non-Charismatic Evangelical." Here, Wallace honestly writes of his struggle with God as he and his family came to terms with his son's cancer. The Bible alone was not a remedy for his grief; instead, a personal, existential experience of God was needed, and this came through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. This book reminds us that whether we are scholars or lay-people, the goal of Bible study is not that we simply master the Scripture; instead, we must earnestly desire that the Scripture masters us by the life-changing work of the Spirit. Both cessationists and charismatics will appreciate this book's emphasis on the unique role of the Holy Spirit for the life and practice of the Church; in the end, the work proves to be a thoughtful, penetrating read.

This wonderful book by a group of more than ten cessationist scholars asks the question, "If the Holy Spirit did not die in the first century, then what in the world is He doing today?" J. P. Moreland describes it as "a book whose time has come." Willie Peterson's chapter on "The Spirit in the Black Church" is worth the price of the book.

Sandra Glahn, author, The Coffee Cup Bible Series

This book is a must read for everyone who truly desires to have an
intimate walk with God. Wallace's willingness to be vulnerable in his
own spiritual journey will be an encouragement and a challenge to all
who take the time to digest the wisdom in these pages. Each and every
essay will help your biblical and experiential understanding of how
the Holy Spirit is alive and well in the church today. With my own
spiritual journey of my daughter's two heart surgeries, it once again
solidified my strong belief that we cannot separate the Word of God
from the Person of God and make a valid claim that we are walking
intimately with the Savior. I too am a cessationist and know there
will be many who will want to shy away from this book from the moment
they read the title. I contend that they may be the ones who need
this book the most.

September 9, 2006

Who's Afraid of the Holy Spirit?

"If the Holy Spirit did not die in the first century, what in the world is He doing today?" The answer(s) to this question are explored by eleven authors from a variety of different backgrounds and disciplines. Some of the authors will be quite familiar to most readers (e.g. J.I. Packer), while others will appear as new and helpful guides on their spiritual journey (e.g. Gerald Bray, Richard Averbeck and M. James Sawyer).

The high points of this book are many, but I will limit my comments to three areas:

1. It breaks fresh ground. Though the authors of these essays would certainly vary a bit on a number of issues, they all want to allow the Holy Spirit to be Lord of their lives (2Cor. 3:17). At the same time, they want to safeguard the authority of Scripture, and avoid some of the excesses that they have encountered. This form of cessationism is being tentatively called pneumatic Christianity.
The implications of this departure from the older form of cessationist thinking are nothing short of astounding. This book will serve as a focal point in the ongoing discussions about the work of the Holy Spirit today.
This work also breaks fresh ground by addressing topics rarely discussed in many circles. The Holy Spirit and the Arts by Reg Grant is a refreshing look at a much-neglected topic. Willie Peterson's The Spirit in the Black Church brings a fresh perspective to the table, and Jeff Louie's The Holy Spirit and the Local Church should be read by every Pastor and church leader.

2. Exemplary Methodology. The diverse backgrounds and disciplines of the authors help to round out the discussion. The essays complement one another across various fields of expertise (see especially the third and fifth essays by Daniel Wallace and M. James Sawyer).
Another useful feature of this book is the frequent insistence on the need to have a personal relationship with God through the Holy Spirit. While propositional truth is useful, and even necessary, we cannot reduce all of the Christian faith to propositions. The authors from the more academic disciplines seek to provide the practical implications of their writings to the reader.
In terms of useful methodology, I would like to highlight essay number five by Daniel Wallace, entitled, The Witness of the Spirit in Romans 8:16 Interpretation and Implications. This chapter addresses concerns and blends together insights from a number of disciplines: historical, theological, lexical and grammatical. The author frequently points the reader to some of the most useful works in New Testament Studies and is thorough in interacting with the relevant literature. However, Mr. Wallace, is not content to simply state his interpretation of the text, but presses on to flesh out its implications for the Christian life. This essay combines the diligence and analysis of a learned exegete with the passion of a preacher. This essay alone is worth the price of the book.

3. Irenic in Tone. One of the things the Holy Spirit is doing today is bringing unity to the body of Christ in answer to Jesus' prayer in John 17. This is evidenced by the irenic and thoughtful tone of the essays in this seminal publication.

Additional Comments

Although this work was primarily focused on the ministry of the Holy Spirit, an essay on the person of the Holy Spirit would serve as a welcome corrective to the trend toward depersonalizing the Holy Spirit and viewing him as an "energy" or "force". There were also a few minor typographical errors, which can be easily corrected.
Biblical Studies Press is to be commended for publishing this work, as is [...].

Conclusion

This book may prove to be one of the most significant works to be published in the last decade. It will certainly cause a stir in some quarters of Evangelicalism, which has imbibed from the wells of rationalism for far too long. I would highly recommend the prayerful reading of this book along with Wayne Grudem's very helpful response. If this book succeeds in bringing honor to God the Holy Spirit, then the Father and the Son will be very pleased indeed (Mt. 12:31-32).


Andrew Carr
La Rue, Ohio

The authors of this book are coming out of the Bible Church movement and seminaries like Dallas Theological which have focused on the intellectual aspects of doing theology and Bible study to the detriment (say the authors) of the experiential and other aspects of the ministry of the third Person of the Trinity. This is an excellent and scholarly but irenic treatment of their realization that they (we) just might have been quenching the Spirit.

Wonderfully refreshing, further demonstrates the need that Charismatics and Cessationists have one for another. I found myself agreeing with Grudem's assessment at the end.