With this book, Jack Levison proves to be, once again, an ‘inspired’ reader of biblical texts. There is no other pneumatologist writing today who has taken so seriously the whole of the biblical witness for constructive theological reflection that aims to combat what could be called a latent pneumatological supersessionism. His skill as an interpreter, his exquisite prose, his sheer energy, and his humble, curious, and delightful spirit are all on full display in this work.
~Daniel Castelo, Professor of Dogmatic and Constructive Theology, Seattle Pacific University and Seminary
Fresh, perceptive, vigorous, energetic, provocative, interesting, and written with flair. Levison makes a fascinating case here for these two prophetic texts (Isaiah 63 and Haggai 2)--one lament, the other promise--as windows onto the origins of pneumatology, and thus pointers to the role of history, specifically historical crisis, in the emergence of holy spirit notions. The implications for rethinking Christian Spirit conceptions in serious conversation with Judaism are significant and clear.
~John T. Carroll, Harriet Robertson Fitts Memorial Professor of New Testament, Union Presbyterian Seminary
Levison's thesis is well argued and founded by detailed scholarly discussions. It deserves the attention of all who approach the Christian Bible by hermeneutically reflected and historically informed methods of interpretation.
~Karl-Wilhelm Niebuhr, Professor of New Testament, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena
In his new book, Jack Levison boldly and brilliantly challenges reigning conceptions of the origins of Christian pneumatology. Grounded in his considerable expertise, and using lively and engaging prose, he offers compelling evidence of the holy spirit’s origins in Israelite history and traditions about the Exodus. The volume is another spirit-filled coup for Levison.
~Judith H. Newman, Professor of Hebrew Bible and Early Judaism, University of Toronto
Any researcher with an interest in pneumatology, interpretations of the exodus tradition, exile, Isaiah, or Haggai will not want to miss this excellent book.
~Timothy Rucker, Catholic Biblical Quarterly
Spread through various levels and with attention to an impressive range of cross-disciplinary dialogue partners, Levison has put in his debt readers of Exodus, Isaiah, and Haggai; readers of Christian scripture with theological interpretive interests; and all those who would know the Holy Spirit better.
~Richard S. Briggs, Review of Biblical Literature
The Holy Spirit before Christianity serves as a vital text for interpreters of both the Hebrew Bible and New Testament. It impresses the reader with its research, detailed appendices, complex arguments, and thoroughly engaged exegesis. While the debate of pneumatological origins will doubtless remain, Levison provides an impressive and convincing case on why early pneumatology should be reconsidered.
~T. Vollmer, Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses
Against the grain of much scholarship, this book argues for the emergence of the spirit of God as an independent agent centuries before Christianity. Levison presents clear arguments in welcoming prose. This is mature scholarship which makes an immediately tangible contribution.
~Tyler Horton, Reading Religion
The Holy Spirit Before Christianity is a fascinating study and written in a lively fashion. I suspect it will provoke discussion and productive thinking among those interested in pneumatology. What makes this work perhaps most significant is that it forces readers to reckon with the tension between historical description – the historical moment when ‘holy spirit’ enters the script – and divine ontology – the theological prolegomena that affirms God’s eternal existence as triune.
~Andrew T. Abernethy, Scottish Journal of Theology
Here Levison has provided meticulous exegesis that demonstrates how already in the Scriptures of Israel one encounters ‘not merely prolegomen[a] to pneumatology’ but ‘pneumatology proper’ (155n5). Levison’s work, alongside other important recent works that focus on agency and exegesis, contributes significantly to our understanding of the emergence of early Jewish and Christian belief in the Holy Spirit. This study should become an enduring point of reference for Old and New Testament scholars, historians of Second Temple Judaism and early Christianity, and systematic theologians working in pneumatology or trinitarian theology.
~Steven Edward Harris, Pneuma: The Journal of the Society for Pentacostal Studies
