Wolf-Dieter Hauschild and Volker Henning Drecoll, Pneumatologie in der Alten Kirche (Traditio Christiana, vol.12; Bern: Peter Lang, 2004), lx+372 pages.
During the past century, it was sometimes said that the doctrine of the Holy Spirit was the “Cinderella of theology,” given the way that it had been neglected by both systematicians and ecclesiastical historians. Well, if that were a truism for much of the twentieth century, it certainly is not now. Pneumatology has received an enormous amount of attention on both the popular and scholarly levels. Nevertheless, there are still significant areas where there are gaps in our knowledge. This reader by two well-known German patristic experts (Hauschild’s doctoral work was focused on pneumatology—his 1967 dissertation, Die Pneumatomachen, is a standard study of the Pneumatomachian controversy) fills in one of those lacunae: it is a substantial annotated compilation of all of the key sources in the patristic era that deal with the doctrine of the Holy Spirit.
Divided into three major sections—“The Spirit and history: church and scripture,” “God and man: illumination, sanctification, and blessedness,” and “The Spirit and God: the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, God”—the various patristic sources are given in their original languages (Greek, Latin, Coptic, and Syriac) with a corresponding German translation. It is good to find authors often ignored in patristic compilations, authors such as Aphrahat (c.280–c.345) and Macarius (fl. 380–410). A helpful introductory essay on patristic pneumatology provides a necessary orientation for this collection of sources. There is also a lengthy bibliography of secondary sources on all of the figures included in the volume. This is a tremendous resource, highly recommended for all serious students of the patristic doctrine of the Spirit; it would be especially helpful as a textbook in a doctoral seminar on pneumatology in the Ancient Church.
Michael A.G. Haykin Professor of Church History The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
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