We Believe in the Holy Spirit: Ancient Christian Doctrine Series [ACD]
Stock No: WW825349
We Believe in the Holy Spirit: Ancient Christian Doctrine Series [ACD]  -     Edited By: Joel C. Elowsky
    By: Joel C. Elowsky, ed.

We Believe in the Holy Spirit: Ancient Christian Doctrine Series [ACD]

Edited By: Joel C. Elowsky
IVP Academic / 2009 / Hardcover

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Product Description

The 4th in the groundbreaking Ancient Christian Doctrine Series follows, once again, the Nicene Creed in determining its topic, We Believe in the Holy Spirit. Here, as in every book in the series, editors Joel Elowsky and Thomas Oden present the earliest writings of early theologians on the Holy Spirit. The book proceeds through the creed phrase by phrase and records the thoughts of each theologian on whatever aspect of the Holy Spirit the creed has chosen to emphasize. An excellent resource for historical theologians or for anyone simply wanting to become more acquainted with Church Doctrine, this resource is informative, comprehensive, and indispensable.

Product Information

Title: We Believe in the Holy Spirit: Ancient Christian Doctrine Series [ACD]
By: Joel C. Elowsky, ed.
Format: Hardcover
Number of Pages: 400
Vendor: IVP Academic
Publication Date: 2009
Dimensions: 10.00 X 7.00 (inches)
Weight: 1 pound 15 ounces
ISBN: 0830825347
ISBN-13: 9780830825349
Series: Ancient Christian Doctrine
Stock No: WW825349

Publisher's Description

"The Spirit blows where it pleases," Jesus said to Nicodemus. "You hear its sound but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

The Spirit, like the wind, is hard to pin down. Any discussion of the Spirit is fraught with the difficulty of speaking about something or someone who defies definition and who purposely averts attention from himself toward someone else. So it is with the Spirit. And so it is with the church's reception of and conversation about the Spirit, even in its early centuries. It is hard to pin down, and the church's voice on the Spirit has been about as loud as the whisper of the wind that indicates the Spirit's presence.

The church's teaching on the Holy Spirit is perhaps what Nicolas Berdayev has called "the last unexplored theological frontier." In these latter days of the church, this "final frontier" is receiving increasing attention. The rise of the Pentecostal movement, the engaged witness of the Orthodox churches, which have historically been more sensitive to the role of the Spirit, coupled with the fact that people in general are looking for a deeper and more relational faith, perhaps help explain in part the increased attention the Spirit is getting.

It is appropriate then that the base camp of this exploration be established in the early understanding of the church on these matters. Following the outline of the succinct third article of the Nicene Creed, Joel Elowsky opens up to us vistas of the Holy Spirit with expertly selected passages from ancient Christian writings.

This portion of the Creed, apart from the filioque, is largely uncontroversial. The full deity of the Spirit is highlighted not so much by theological definition as by the emphasis on worship and action. While the Creed itself does not speak directly of the work of the Spirit in justification, sanctification and the like, the early church theologians nevertheless had much to say on these issues. Here we see clearly how the Spirit is "giver of life."

The five-volume Ancient Christian Doctrine series follows up on the acclaimed Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture to provide patristic commentary on the Nicene Creed, translating source material from the church fathers into English for unparalleled insight into early church history.

Author Bio

Volume EditorThe Rev. Joel C. Elowsky (Ph.D., Drew University) has served as operations manager for the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture and is the volume editor for its two volumes on John's Gospel. He is executive director of the Center for Early African Christianity and executive editor for the Works of Early African Christianity, and has served as adjunct professor of religion at Drew University.General EditorThomas C. Oden, formerly the Henry Anson Buttz Professor of Theology at The Theological School, Drew University, Madison, New Jersey, is the general editor of the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture. The author of numerous books, including a highly regarded three-volume systematic theology, he also serves as a general editor for Ancient Christian Texts and as director of the Center for Early African Christianity.

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