God's Empowering Presence

Book excerpt: "Fee's book is the most comprehensive treatment available of Paul's understanding of the Holy Spirit, a topic that has rarely received sufficient attention in studies of Pauline theology. Fee's method is exemplary: he first analyzes Paul's statements about the Spirit, in each individual letter, and then moves to a synthesis of Paul's general pneumatology. The result is a book that is deeply exegetical, doing justice both to the particularity of Paul's writings and to the fundamental unity of his vision for the Spirit's role in the life of the Christian community. Most importantly, Fee emphasizes insistently that the Holy Spirit must be experienced as a living presence within the church. That message is both faithful to Paul and urgent for the community of faith in our time." and -Richard B. Hays, Professor of New Testament, The Divinity School, Duke University"With the energy and care that is a trademark of his work, Gordon Fee here fills a significant gap in Pauline Studies. Both those who find talk about the Holy Spirit congenial and those who would happily marginalize it will be instructed by this book. Fee makes a genuine contribution as he examines Paul's letters in conversation with both the exegetical tradition of the academy and the pressing needs of the church." and -Beverly R. Gaventa, Professor of New Testament and Exegesis, Princeton Theological Seminary"Fee uniquely combines professional competence as a text critic, an exegete, an author and editor of major commentaries, and a foremost evangelical interpreter of Paul with a lifetime of formation and ministry among the Pentecostals-this century's providential witnesses to the work of the Spirit of God among us. . . . Fee's work offers an enduring encyclopedia of Pauline pneumatological exegesis, easy to consult for next Sunday's sermon, yet substantial enough to take its place near George Ladd's Theology of the New Testament as a must-have, within arm's reach, for serious interpreters of Paul's gospel. . . . Fee's work is the theological crown of a distinguished exegetical career." and -Russell P. Spittler, Senior Professor of New Testament, Fuller Theological Seminary