Dr Paul Allen

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...

Author: Paul Walker Without a doubt, the Pentecostal revival of the early 1900s and the Charismatic renewal, which had its beginning in the late 1950s, together constitute one of the most innovative and impactful spiritual renovations in history. But when we investigate this phenomenon, we must ask: 1) Why has this happened? 2) What is this doing? and 3) How can spiritual integrity be maintained? a, Why Has This Happened? The first reason has been an evident need for renewal of mission and purpose throughout the church and among its individual members. Second, in view of this need for renewal, there has been a definite movement on the part of sincere believers to recover the dynamic power of the Holy Spirit, which transformed and empowered the early Christians. Emerging from this movement has been an inbreaking of the Holy Spirit, accompanied by speaking in tongues, among believers in every major denomination, demonstrating that the baptism in the Holy Spirit is not a denomination or a...

  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,...