A Once-And-Coming Spirit at Pentecost: Essays on the Liturgical Readings Between Easter and Pentecost

Raymond Brown has a firm understanding of the progress of the early church from being predominatly a sect within Judaism to a universal church. He is able to perceive that the rosy colour presented by the author of Acts, is not necesaarily historically true. In combining Acts with the readings fromn John's Gospel for the Easter season he is able to present the reader with many issues that faced ther early church, especially in those thatg eventually resulted in Christians being forced out of the synagogues.

As Christians, it is easy to fall into the trap of losing focus on events after the Resurrection of Christ. To be sure, we do have the Sunday of Pentecost. (Descent of the Holy Spirit) But it is not the mass that Easter is. We also have movies like "The Greatest Story Ever Told" and "Jesus of Nazareth" to portray the events of the Gospels. But we have little more than the Bible itself to tell of the events after Jesus ascended into heaven. Father Brown points out that as Christians, we should know the OT. Partially, because in the OT, the Jews follow God even though he is not physically present. While Moses and a few others had the luxury of talking to God, the majority of Jews only heard God through the prophets. And that is essentially the same pattern for us after Jesus ascends into heaven. Most of us probably remember that Peter had some issues with anger in the Gospels. And most of us probably know he denied Jesus 3 times. But how many of us recall that after Jesus ascended into heaven, Peter continued the work of Jesus? In the Book of "Acts," Peter heals the ill and crippled. He also casts demons out of people. Father Brown shows us that the changes from Judaism to Christianity were not overnight. For some time, the early Christians still observed Jewish customs. Why not? Jesus observed Jewish customs such as the Passover even though he was in the process of changing it. The clashes between Jews and Christians most probably came when the Gentiles came into the picture. The Jews did tolerate Christianity for a while, but then tolerance usually has its limits. Eventually, the Gentiles became the better candidates for conversion, and many of the Jewish rituals and ways such as circumcision, observation of the Sabbath, and the Kosher laws had to go if the Gentiles were going to become Christians. To be sure, the church leaders Peter, Paul, and James did not always agree on these things. But it was clear that if they tried to retain the Jewish laws and customs, that Christianity would not survive. (Even in religion, we have to some extent know where the market is.) Overall, this is a wonderful book that focuses on material we often neglect. If you like this book by Father Brown, be sure to check out his "A Crucified Christ In Holy Week."

Using the mass readings for the weeks following Easter, Raymond Brown tours Acts (with some detours into Luke and John) to explain the role of the Holy Spirit in the early (and contmeporary) church. Catholics, Protestants and charismatic Christians will all find Brown's combination of theological and devotional insight spiritually nourishing. Not difficult reading. He makes clear much that tends to be confusing.