Paul, the Spirit, and the People of God

This is an excellent book written by an excellent scholar. This is a quick read, but that is not to take away from the fact that it offers a very deep, well rounded understanding of the role of the Holy Spirit in the lives of Christians. Some of the chapters are included by not limited to:A "Theology" of the Spirit? - The Spirit in Pauline TheologyThe Holy Who? - the Spirit as PersonA People for His Name - The Spirit and the People of GodThe Ongoing Warfare - The Spirit Against the Flesh Those Controversial Gifts? - The Spirit and the CharismataFee starts off profound immediatly in the Overture by saying that "...all too often our orthodoxy has been either diluted by an unholy alliance with a given political agenda, or diminished by legalistic or relativistic ethics quite unrelated to the character of God, or rendered ineffective by a pervasive rationalism in an increasingly nonrationalistic world" (Fee 1996, xiii). His basic conclusion is that we need to allow the Spirit be free to interact with us individually: "...our theologizing must stop paying mere lip service to the Spirit and recognize his crucial role in Paul's gospel; and it means that the church must risk freeing the Spirit from being boxed into the creed and getting him back into the experiential life of the believer and the believing community" (Fee 1996, 189).

This is an excellent book and written by a scholar. This book deals primarily with the presence of the Holy Spirit in the individual life of the believer and in the church. Fee examines the presence of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament and shows how God dwelt amongst His people and how the presence departed and was renewed again. He describes the eschatological nature of salvation, showing that salvation has a past tense aspect, a present tense aspect and a future tense aspect. Anothre theme shown in this book is that God is still saving a people for His name describing how salvation is corporate as well as individual and cites various scriptures to back this up.Fee's teaching influences the way one reads the New Testament. Upon reading this book one can't help but see when ope reads the New Testament, the perspective the Early Church had on Salvation and their existence.At the back of the book there is an appendix dealing with Spirit and Water Baptism.For a clear balanced and uncompromising book dealing with the Holy Spirit and the Early Church this book is a must read.

"Justification by faith" is not the total thrust of Paul's message, according to Fee, as it is too narrowly focused. The life of the Holy Spirit has been minimalized in the church when it should be an experienced reality. The Spirit enables us to live an ethical, holy life, not by some New Testament rule-keeping, but by "walking in the Spirit". This Spirit-life is lived in a now/not yet existence inwhich kingdom life has begun, but is still yet to be fulfilled. Fee rules out "triumphalism" inwhich the "not yet" side of eschatology is supposedly "now". Fee maintains that the charismata(gifts of the Spirit) are mentioned by Paul in a passing, matter-of-fact sort of way, as they were the common experience of the early church. Paul's "theology" is not of the armchair type as Paul's letters were written to correct problems. I urge those of the Reformed and those of the Dispensationalist stripe(not to mention Baptists) would do themselves a favor by reading this book. Fee is a Pentecostal, true, but doesn't toe the Pentecostal line on everything. He agrees with Calvin that the true saints perservere to the end! Pentecostals and Charismatics who think for themselves will find much to ponder. MAKE SURE TO READ THE APPENDIX FOR FEE'S VIEW ON THE "BAPTISM OF THE SPIRIT". Fee is a first-rate biblical scholar and one would be poorer for ignoring this book. The fact that he doesn't fit perfectly in anyone theological "box" shows his attempt to be true to his reading of the scriptures.

The book, Paul, the Spirit, and the People of God, is a comprehensive study of the Holy Spirit's person, purpose, and actions as seen through the writings of the apostle Paul. Mr. Fee takes the reader into the mind of Paul and shows how Paul's rabbinical training uniquely influenced his views about the significance of the Holy Spirit's presence and workings in the lives of new covenant believers. He then expands upon this paradigm and traces how the Spirit moves within and upon the hearts of God's people from their initial salvation to their resurrection. It is an excellent book and I highly recommend reading it. It is both informative and thought provoking. If there is any drawback to the book, it is that Mr. Fee tends to concentrate a little too much on the work of the Spirit in the Church body as a whole. He tends to minimize the work that the Spirit does in our individual lives.

When I found out that Gordon Fee, one of myfavorite Bible scholars, was Pentecostal, I was surprised. Frankly, I've always thought the words "Pentecostal scholar" were somewhat of an oxymoron. But Fee has persuaded me to be a "Pentecostal" in terms of his theology of the Spirit and "charismata." This is certainly as close to an "unbiased," Biblical Theology approach to the Spirit in Paul's writings that I have seen - though admittedly "Pentecostal," Fee is not afraid to be critical of unBiblical excesses in the movement. However, he is much more critical of Christianity in general, which, though "Trinitarian" in creed, is actually "Binitarian" in practice. The Holy Spirit has truly been avoided and ignored in the life of the Church today. His emphasis on the Church as the People of God living between the times, and his emphasis on Paul's view of the "already/not yet" of eschatology, is especially helpful in guiding the Church today into a truly Biblical view of the Spirit's work in the Church and the world. By Debbie Cartwright