John R Levison

In his trailblazing studies of the spirit in Jewish and Christian antiquity, John R. (Jack) Levison shatters theological and exegetical taxonomies. Should the spirit be understood as breath or Spirit--or both? Is the spirit directed to creation or salvation--or both? Is the spirit a force or an angel--or both? Does the spirit inspire ecstasy or wisdom--or both? When Levison transfers the starting point of pneumatology from the New Testament to the Hebrew Bible, from Christianity to Judaism, questions swell, assumptions detonate, and expectations flourish. Consequently, Levison's studies are considered "impressive and provocative" (Review of Biblical Literature), "delightful, engaging" (Catholic Biblical Quarterly), "impressive" (Journal of Ancient Judaism) and "a significant shift in research on understandings of the spirit in Judaism" (Journal of Theological Studies), with "profound ramifications for both Jewish and New Testament Studies" (Journal of Jewish Studies). Now, for the first time, selections of his breathtaking array of studies are available in three accessible volumes. In this volume, you will encounter Levison's unprecedented and probing studies of the spirit in early Judaism in the context of Greek and Roman thought, from Sirach to the Tosefta, from the Dead Sea Scrolls to Philo of Alexandria, from Judith to Josephus. As they engage, readers will understand why Reading Religion: A Publication of the American Academy of Religion forecasts that "Levison will continue to be at the center of our most fruitful discussions of pneumatology."

In his trailblazing studies of the spirit in Jewish and Christian Antiquity, John R. (Jack) Levison shatters theological and exegetical taxonomies. Should the spirit be understood as breath or Spirit--or both? Is the spirit directed to creation or salvation--or both? Is the spirit a force or an angel--or both? Does the spirit inspire ecstasy or wisdom--or both? When Levison transfers the starting point of pneumatology from the New Testament to the Hebrew Bible, from Christianity to Judaism, questions swell, assumptions detonate, and expectations flourish. Consequently, Levison's studies are considered ""impressive and provocative"" (Review of Biblical Literature), ""delightful, engaging"" (Catholic Biblical Quarterly), ""compelling, eloquent, sensitive"" (Word and World), and ""a remarkable read"" (Themelios), with ""profound ramifications for both Jewish and New Testament Studies"" (Journal of Jewish Studies). Now, for the first time, selections of his breathtaking array of studies are available in three accessible volumes. This volume, in which you will discover some of the programmatic studies Levison published on the biblical literature of both testaments, reveals why Reading Religion: A Publication of the American Academy of Religion forecasts that ""Levison will continue to be at the center of our most fruitful discussions of pneumatology.""

In his trailblazing studies of the spirit in Jewish and Christian Antiquity, John R. (Jack) Levison shatters theological and exegetical taxonomies. Should the spirit be understood as breath or Spirit--or both? Is the spirit directed to creation or salvation--or both? Is the spirit a force or an angel--or both? Does the spirit inspire ecstasy or wisdom--or both? When Levison transfers the starting point of pneumatology from the New Testament to the Hebrew Bible, from Christianity to Judaism, questions swell, assumptions detonate, and expectations flourish. Consequently, Levison's studies are considered ""impressive and provocative"" (Review of Biblical Literature), ""delightful, engaging"" (Catholic Biblical Quarterly), ""compelling, eloquent, sensitive"" (Word and World), and ""a remarkable read"" (Themelios), with ""profound ramifications for both Jewish and New Testament Studies"" (Journal of Jewish Studies). Now, for the first time, selections of his breathtaking array of studies are available in three accessible volumes. This volume, in which you will discover some of the programmatic studies Levison published on the biblical literature of both testaments, reveals why Reading Religion: A Publication of the American Academy of Religion forecasts that ""Levison will continue to be at the center of our most fruitful discussions of pneumatology.""

With his latest book, The Holy Spirit before Christianity, John R. Levison again changes the face and foundation of Christian belief in the Holy Spirit. The categories Christians have used, the boundaries they have created, the proprietary claims they have made - all of these evaporate, now that Levison has looked afresh at Scripture. In a study that is both poignant and provocative, Levison takes readers back five hundred years before Jesus, where he discovers history's first grasp of the Holy Spirit as a personal agent. The prophet Haggai and the author of Isaiah 56-66, in their search for ways to grapple with the tragic events of exile and to articulate hope for the future, took up old exodus traditions of divine agents - pillars of fire, an angel, God's own presence - and fused them with belief in God's Spirit. Since it was the Spirit of God who led Israel up from Egypt and formed them into a holy nation, now, the prophets assured their hearers, the Spirit of God would lead and renew those returning from exile. Taking this point of origin as our guide, Christian pneumatology - belief in the Holy Spirit - is less about an exclusively Christian experience or doctrine and more about the presence of God in the grand scheme of Israel's history, in which Christianity is ancient Israel's heir. This explosive observation traces the essence of Christian pneumatology deep into the heart of the Hebrew Scriptures. The implications are fierce: the priority of Israelite tradition at the headwaters of pneumatology means that Christians can no longer hold stubbornly to the Holy Spirit as an exclusively Christian belief. But the implications are hopeful as well, offering Christians a richer history, a renewed vocabulary, a shared path with Judaism, and the promise of a more expansive and authentic experience of the Holy Spirit.

Containing meticulous, up-to-date scholarship yet written in a flowing, enjoyable style, this comprehensive book takes readers on a journey through a breathtaking array of literary texts, encompassing the literature of Israel, early Judaism, the Greco-Roman world, and the New Testament. John R. Levison's skill with ancient texts -- already demonstrated in his acclaimed The Spirit in First-Century Judaism -- is here extended to a myriad of other expressions of the Spirit in antiquity.

A popular series which presents the latest scholarship by the world's leading scholars in their fields, in easy-to-read manner and assuming no prior knowledge of the subject matter.

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