Retail Price: $42.00
Web Price: $33.60
ISBN 10: 1-59752-724-6
ISBN 13: 978-1-59752-724-8
Pages: 412
Binding: Paperback
Publication Date: 06/01/2006
Division: Wipf and Stock
Series: Studies in Christian History and Thought
Category: Church history
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Holy Spirit and Religious Experience in Christian Literature ca. AD 90-200
By John Eifion Morgan-Wynne
'Holy Spirit and Religious Experience' seeks to find out how far the centrality of the Holy Spirit in Christian experience during the earliest period of the church was maintained or diminished in the third to the fifth generations (ca. AD 90-200). Three themes are explored. First, the sense of encounter with the divine presence, the numinous, a sense of being caught up into the divine being or being overwhelmed by the One who is beyond us. Secondly, a sense of being illuminated in respect to the truth, given deeper understanding of God's purpose, whether for the individual or the congregation, or guided in decision-making. Thirdly, a sense of ethical empowerment, an awareness of being helped by divine power, assisted in a course of action or development of character, in grappling with temptation, or in the ultimate test of loyalty, martyrdom.
This book is arranged geographically, from Syria and Asia Minor in the East to Rome and Gaul in the West, including North Africa and Egypt. Christian authors within these areas are examined chronologically, from the later New Testament writers through the second century to Clement of Alexandria and Tertullian of Carthage, for the evidence they supply. The variegated picture which emerges, it is contended, reflects second-century Christianity.
Author - John Eifion Morgan-Wynne
Foreword - James Dunn
"Scholars have come to very different conclusions about the experience of the Spirit of Christianity in the early post-apostolic generations. Morgan-Wynne discusses all the evidence thoroughly, recognizes the diversity of the period, and reaches some well based conclusions. This will be a standard resource for its topic."
—Richard Bauckham, Professor of New Testament
Studies and Bishop Wardlaw Professor,
St. Mary's College, University of
St. Andrews, Fife, UK
"With his fine knowledge of ancient Greek and his well-honed skills in exegeting the nuances of New Testament Greek, Dr. Morgan-Wynne is ideally placed to fill this gap in scholarship on the Holy Spirit in the early patristic church."
—James D.G. Dunn, Emeritus Lightfoot Professor
of Divinity, University of Durham, UK
"Morgan-Wynne's excellent book demonstrated the consistency, contrasts and developments in the early Christians' understanding of the experience of the Holy Spirit from around AD 90 to 200. Since there has been no book like this since 1899, this indispensable guide to a vital topic is even more to be welcomed."
—Paul Trebilco, Department of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Otago, New Zealand
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