God's Empowering Presence: The Holy Spirit in the Letters of Paul (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Fee offers a fresh and in-depth exegesis of every Spirit text in the Pauline corpus. Part Two synthesizes the analysis presented in Part One into a coherent invitation to consider the Holy Spirit's crucial role in Pauline theology.

"Seldom does one find such a satisfying treatment of a theological topic so solidly based on serious and thorough exegetical analysis. In his study of the New Testament Fee recognizes and takes seriously the fact that Paul experienced the reality of the Spirit's empowering presence in his life and in the life of the church. Comprehensive in its scope, this scholarly volume speaks to pastors, students, and other church leaders as well as to the academic community. It is a good book that will do good."
-Bruce M. Metzger, Professor of New Testament, Emeritus, Princeton Theological Seminary

"Fee's book is the most comprehensive treatment available of Paul's understanding of the Holy Spirit, a topic that has rarely received sufficient attention in studies of Pauline theology. Fee's method is exemplary: he first analyzes Paul's statements about the Spirit, in each individual letter, then moves to a synthesis of Paul's general pneumatology. The result is a book that is deeply exegetical, doing justice both to the particularity of Paul's writings and to the fundamental unity of his vision for the Spirit's role in the life of the Christian community. Most importantly, Fee emphasizes insistently that the Holy Spirit must be experienced as a living presence within the church. That message is both faithful to Paul and urgent for the community of faith in our time."
-Richard B. Hays, Associate Professor of New Testament, The Divinity School, Duke University

"With the energy and care that is a trademark of his work, Gordon Fee here fills a significant gap in Pauline Studies. Both those who find talk about the Holy Spirit congenial and those who would happily marginalize it will be instructed by this book. Fee makes a genuine contribution as he examines Paul's letters in conversation with both the exegetical tradition of the academy and the pressing needs of the church."
-Beverly R. Gaventa, Associate Professor of New Testament, Princeton Theological Seminary

About the Author

Gordon D. Fee is Professor of New Testament at Regent College, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and is the author of numerous works, including The First Epistle to the Corinthians (New International Commentary), 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus (New International Biblical Commentary), and, with Douglas Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 992 pages
• Publisher: Hendrickson Publishers (April 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 094357594X
• ISBN-13: 978-0943575940
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #538,750 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Understand the Holy Spirit in Paul's letters, February 22, 2002

By	Patrick Oden (Lake Arrowhead, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

God's Empowering Presence is not a small book, nor light reading. In developing an article for the Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements, Fee realized very little secondary literature existed on the topic of the Holy Spirit as seen in the letters of Paul of Tarsus. Because of the dearth of Pneumatological studies in general, no one had ever thought to write a text specifically focused on how Paul viewed the person and work of the Holy Spirit. So, Fee sought to remedy this. In doing so he realized that he could not simply make assertions without first having a firm foundation of Biblical analysis with which he could base his findings. Understanding that this had not been done in a way which focused on the broader understanding of the Holy Spirit in the Pauline corpus, he felt he had to create his own body of textual analysis which went through the various letters and analyzed verse by verse, use by use, Paul's understanding of pneumatology. It is this textual analysis which comprises the great bulk of God's Empowering Presence.
Having exegeted the great bulk of the Pauline Epistles, Fee then feels able to make some observations and conclusions about Paul's general pneumatology in the last 100 pages of this nearly 1000 page book. He concludes that the Spirit was for Paul more real and evident than we can possibly imagine in our day and age, that the presence of the Spirit was an assumed reality, because of which specific theological discussion is limited. But in the off hand remarks, asides, benedictions, and other such casual comments Gordon Fee is able to discover and lay out eight primary conclusions about Pauline pneumatology. These conclusions are not meant as simply academic points of interest, but are in keeping with Fee's profound pastoral sensitivity and seek to point out ways in which the modern church can regain some of the liveliness and fullness that is found in Paul's understanding of the Holy Spirit. If you don't care about the exegesis (though as a reference I can't imagine not caring) Fee has another book called Paul, the Spirit, and the People of God which consists of just his conclusions and insights.

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, but be ready to trudge through tons of stuff, September 25, 2001

By	Clinton Hale (Danville, VA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This was the most excellent book I have read discussing the work of the Holy Spirit,and it's importance to the Christian. Fee caused me to do a lot of thinking about my previous beliefs. He challenged me. THe one problem with the book, and Fee admits as much in the introduction is that the first section of the book is absolutely exhaustive. Not only is it an exhaustive discussion of the Pauline texts dealing with the Spirit, but it will "exhaust" you in reading through it. However, don't let that stop you from reading this fantastic work. It could change your life and appreciation for the wisdom of GOd.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A comprehensive book on the Holy Spirit, January 13, 1997

By A Customer

This large and carefully written book would be a superb gift for your pastor. Fee, one of the leading contemporary New Testament scholars--in evangelical and non-evangelical circles--high-lights, analyzes, exegetes, and summarizes every mention of the Holy Spirit in Paul's writings. This outstanding book is not marred by a dry-as-dust treatment of this aspect of God's empowering Presence in the life of the church. No better book on the subject is on the market today. As a gift for your pastor, Fee's work will be at his side when he prepares for Sunday's proclamation, for it was written, the author says, to get to "the heart of Paul's view of things regarding the Spirit." (p. 896) Fee succeeds admirably.