Dr Paul Allen

  Jesus says God is Spirit, and we are also told the Holy Spirit is Spirit, so how do we define the Holy Spirit? We know his name, but we’re not so sure about what he looks like. He’s the Spirit, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is difficult to define. As soon as we attempt to explain him, our language becomes less helpful than we may have hoped. Not only is our intellect too small to encompass him, but our language is also too limited to explain him. Metaphors that help us to tiptoe our way into an exploration of his character.  To describe him as an ‘entity’ or a ‘force’ sounds too impersonal; to refer to him as a ‘person’ suggests he’s human and circumscribed; to define him as a ‘member of the Godhead’ begs the question ‘what kind of member?’  To address him as an ‘individual’ sounds as if there are three gods. Even referring to the Spirit with a masculine pronoun is not necessarily the best. The Greek word (pneuma), often translated as ‘Spirit’ in the NT, is neuter wh...

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...

ACADEMIC VIEWPOINT Luke 2:27 – “Simeon was moved by the Spirit”  An Academic Summary of Major Scholarship   1. Greek Expression • ἐν τῷ πνεύματι ἦλθεν = “he came in the Spirit,” often rendered “moved by the Spirit” or “directed by the Spirit.” • Echoes OT prophetic movement (e.g., Ezek 2:2; 3:12,14; 2 Chr 20:14).   2. Major Scholarly Views Fitzmyer (AYB Luke) • Spirit’s action is prophetic guidance, not emotional ecstasy. • Simeon represents the righteous remnant of Israel. • The Spirit brings revelation (v.26) and directs his steps (v.27). Nolland (WBC) • The movement is a specific Spirit-given impulse. • It positions Simeon at the temple at God’s precise timing. • Focus on Spirit as orchestrator of salvation events. Green (NICNT) • Spirit acts as a narrative agent, arranging encounters. • Simeon is guided into a divine appointment with Jesus. • Emphasises Spirit as the director of salvation history. Marshall (NIGTC) • Spirit’s leading is propheti...

The Holy Spirit Enlightening the Mind BY JAMES BUCHANAN Having considered the general design of the gift of the Spirit, in reference both to the world and the Church, and described the course or process by which a soul is translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God’s dear Son, I propose to illustrate separately the various parts of the Spirit’s work, or his successive operations on the soul, from the time when it is first taken under his teaching, till it is made ‘meet for the inheritance of the saints in light.’ One of his most necessary operations is that by which he conveys spiritual light into the understanding; and to this part of his work, which is indeed so important, that it is often put for the whole, the apostle refers, when, speaking of the Holy Ghost as ‘the Spirit of wisdom and revelation,’ he prays that by the Spirit ‘the eyes of our understanding may be enlightened’ (Eph. i. 17, 18), and when he describes true converts as having had their eyes opened,...

  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...

This article examines the real intellectual friction between Gordon D. Fee and Craig S. Keener. Below is a PhD-level reconstruction of the kinds of questions each would likely press on the other, based on their published methodologies, emphases, and tensions.   1. Questions Gordon D. Fee Would Ask Craig S. Keener Fee’s questions would focus on theological coherence, canon, and control of experience.   1.1 On Normativity of Narrative “How do you prevent narrative from becoming normatively binding without clear criteria?” • Fee would press Keener to clarify:  o Which Lukan patterns are repeatable  o Which are historically contingent  Underlying concern:  Without controls, narrative theology risks becoming selective and subjective.   1.2 On Unity of the Spirit’s Work “If Luke presents varied sequences of Spirit reception, how do you maintain a unified theology of the Spirit?” • Fee would argue:  o Paul presents the Spirit as inseparable fro...