Dr Paul Allen

Dunn devotes a similar amount of space in Baptism to the writings of Paul as to those of Luke. He discusses every passage in the Pauline corpus that, in his opinion, alludes to conversion-initiation.2 Again he believes he is on strong ground, asserting that for Pentecostal views of Spirit baptism, “Paul seems to be more of an embarrassment than an asset, so that time and again expositions of this doctrine conveniently ignore him.”3  For Dunn, when Paul’s insights are duly noted, they “knock the Pentecostals’ case on the head” and cut “the ground away from under the feet of the Pentecostal.”4  Perhaps the “killer blow” to Pentecostal doctrine, in his view, is Romans 8:9. As he has written recently, “the nearest Paul comes to defining the term ‘Christian’ is in terms of having, that is, of having received the Spirit: ‘if anyone does not have the Spirit, he is not Christ’s’ (Rom. 8:9).”5  However, while I will refer to Romans 8:9 later in this chapter, I will actually take 1...

Pentecostal alternatives to Dunn’s thesis are not uniform. When the variations are studied, some varieties prove stronger than others. With respect to Christian initiation, Petts and Turner are more convincing than Stronstad.  With respect to what exactly the empowering of the Spirit was for, Stronstad and Shelton are more accurate than, on the one hand, Menzies, for his concept is too narrow, and, on the other hand, Turner, whose concept somewhat misrepresents what Luke wrote, about both “prior works” of the Spirit and the inception of salvation. The Pentecostal gift of the Spirit was linked programmatically to other aspects of Christian initiation (Acts 2:38, which must be allowed its full force).  However, this did not mean that the early steps of discipleship could not occur without it (e.g., in Acts 8:4–24). However anomalous the Samaritan episode was, it indicates clearly both the conceptual distinctions to be drawn between coming to faith in Christ and receiving the Sp...

Anyone familiar with the debates over the doctrine of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit will know just how important this monograph is. James Dunn sparked an entire conversation with the publication of his doctoral research in 1970. Since its publication it this volume has become one of the most significant academic works on the issue and remains a standard of some importance. The evidence of its importance is seen in its careful exegetical work. Baptism in the Holy Spirit is a valuable academic work because it forces readers to wrestle with the actual details of the relevant passages on this much-debated doctrine. The book is a careful exegetical study of the various events and passages that provide the case study for this doctrine. Across the Gospels, Acts, and Epistles, Dunn meticulously interacts with the lexical and syntactical issues of the text to make his case. His case simply being that baptism in the Holy Spirit was a conversion-initiation experience, contra Pentecostalism. He w...

The Samaritan riddle is the focal point of Dunn's Debate. James D. G. Dunn’s first book, Baptism in the Holy Spirit (1970), claims the New Testament says baptism in the Holy Spirit always occurs simultaneously at conversion-initiation.  In contrast, classical Pentecostals contend that Spirit baptism always occurs subsequent to conversion and is evidenced by tongues-speaking.  They mostly cite Acts 8:4-25 for “subsequence.” It says Philip preached to the Samaritans and they “believed,” but they did not receive the Spirit until Peter and John came days later and laid hands on them. Dunn says the Samaritans and Jesus’ 120 Jewish disciples in Acts 2 were not “Christians” until they were baptised with the Holy Spirit.  Zarley agrees with Pentecostals about subsequence in both cases. But he claims these Samaritans and the Gentiles in Acts 10 were Spirit baptized due to Peter’s presence, using his metaphorical “keys of the kingdom” Jesus had promised to give him in Matt 16:19. A...

  In 1970, James D. G. Dunn’s University of Cambridge PhD dissertation was published as Baptism in the Holy Spirit, beginning the debate that is the subject of this book. For over a decade, it lay neglected by Pentecostals as they were nonresponsive to Dunn’s thesis that the baptism in the Holy Spirit occurred at and, in fact, effected conversion in the believer. That changed in 1984 with the emergence of the next generation of Pentecostal scholars and, particularly, with the publication of Roger Stronstad’s The Charismatic Theology of St. Luke.  The strong works of Robert P. Menzies and James B. Shelton would shortly follow. Also in 1984, Howard M. Ervin weighed in again with a seriatim response to Dunn’s work. On the other side of the Atlantic, David Petts and the early Max Turner would make important contributions to the debate with Dunn. These scholars, and more, you are about to be introduced to through this excellent work by the Rev. Dr William P. Atkinson, Associate Res...